THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


WORLD   POLITICS 


«rp53 


C^.T   VAar-^>r-ove.') 


NEW  YORK 

E.  F.   FENNO    &    COMPANY 
9  and  11  East  16th  Street 


London  :  SAMPSON  LOW,  MARSTON  &  COMPANY,  Limited 
St.  Dunstan's  House,  Fetter  Lane,  Fleet  Street,  E.C. 


Copyright,  1898, 

BY 

R.  F.  Fknno  &  Company. 


All  rights  reserved 


Contente* 


PART  I. 
Introductory. 


I.— The  World's  Outlook, 
II.  —A  Search  for  Causes, 


PART  II. 
General  Considerations. 

III.— What  is  Sound  Policy? 
IV.— The  Nature  and  Relations  of  a  State, 
V. — Laws  of  Life,      .         .        .        .         . 
VI.— Principles  of  National  Conduct, 
VII. — The  Promise  of  Recent  Practice, 
VIII.— The  Lessons  of  the  Centuries,     . 

PART  III. 
Particular  Considerations. 


IX.— A  Test  of  Progress,    .        .        .        , 
X.— The  Evolution  of  State  Law,      . 
XI.— The  Evolution  of  International  Law, 


9 
19 


29 
37 
43 
52 
62 
69 


77 
84 
95 


;r*-^^^^: 


240 


6  CONTENTS. 

PAKT  IV. 

A  Practical  Measure. 

CHAPTER  PAGS 

XII.— Its  General  Character,        .        .  .        .  105 

XIII.— Its  First  Clause, 108 

XIV.— Its  Second  Clause, 119 

XV.— Its  Third  Clause, 124 

XVI.— Some  Possible  Objections,  .  .  .  .136 
XVII.— Conclusion, 145 

NOTES. 

Note  A.,  from  p.  40.— A  Nation  an  Organism,         .        .  155 
Note  B. ,  from  p.  45.  —Unselfishness,       ....  163 
Note  C,  from  p.  49.— The  Morality  of  the  Evolutionary- 
Process,     165 

Note  D.,  from  p.  58. —' Splendid  Isolation,'  or  the  Inter- 
dependence of  Nations, 167 

Note  E.,  from  p.  73.— Christianity 181 

Note  F.,  from  p.  109.— The  International  Marine  Confer- 
ence,   184 

Note  G.,  from  p.  135.— Sully  and  Kant,  .        .        .187" 

Note  H.,  from  p.  153.— The  English-Speaking  Peoples.  194 


Addendum. —The  Czar's  Plea  for  Peace, 


^ 


part  fftrst. 
INTRODUCTORY. 


.'^ 


WORLD    POLITICS. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

The  World's  Outlook. 


What  are  the  prospects  of  the  world's  near  fu- 
ture? Are  they  as  gloomy  as  would  appear  at 
first  sight?  These  are  questions  that  the  ordinary 
person  has  been  content,  until  recently,  to  leave 
unanswered ;  and  even  now  there  are  those  who  do 
not  think  it  worth  while  to  bother  their  heads  with 
such  matters. 

It  has  been  asserted  frequently  that  a  very  large 
number  of  people  never  really  think ;  that  they  will 
not  face  facts  which  surround  them  constantly,  but 
which  they  persistently  ignore,  until,  taken  un- 
awares by  circumstance,  they  find  themselves 
driven  to  immediate  action  in  relation  to  some 
fact  they  have  never  observed  before.  Then  they 
hasten  to  do  something,  anything,  to  relieve  the 
situation,  when  it  is  perhaps  too  late,  and  when 
ordinary  foresight  would  have  spared  them  a 
catastrophe. 

Men  will  live  near  swampy  ground,  in  a  hot  cli- 


10         ,,,    ,  WQ?^^.   POLITICS. 

mate,  witKout  giving  a  thought  to  their  danger, 
untit^i^-^ei;  ihi^^^elife  to  (leprive  them  of  their  best 
beloved.  So  there  are  many  who  never  give  a 
thought  to  the  condition  of  the  world  around  them. 
They  can  get  along  for  the  moment  without  serious 
inconvenience;  they  have  their  own  affairs  to  at- 
tend to;  time  enough  for  the  world  when  its  con- 
dition affects  them  personally. 

That  they  must  of  necessity  be  affected  by  it 
already,  and  that  in  a  day  or  a  year  the  danger 
near  which  they  live  may  quite  vigorously  affect 
them,  are  facts  they  do  not  appreciate.  If  they 
imagine  they  are  beyond  the  reach  of  other  men 
and  other  nations,  that  they  are  separate  from  the 
rest  of  the  human  race,  they  are  woefully  deceived. 
If  they  could  completely  isolate  themselves  in  the 
ocean  of  surrounding  nature,  it  would  be  a  miracle 
which  the  most  skilful  chemist  has  to  confess  him- 
self unable  to  perform ;  and  if  they  could  free  them- 
selves from  all  dependence  upon  their  fellows,  they 
would  reverse  the  experience  of  many  thousands  of 
years. 

When  Home  fell,  not  a  villager  in  Gaul  remained 
unaffected.  One  vote  in  a  House  of  Legislature,  in- 
volving the  increase  or  the  decrease  of  some  import 
duty  by  a  fractional  percentage,  may  throw  thou- 
sands of  men  out  of  employment,  at  home  or  abroad. 
A  poor  employee  in  an  English  mill  may  suppose 


THE  WORLD'S  Ot'TLOOK.  11 

that  the  politics  of  the  United  States  is  no  con- 
cern of  his ;  but  in  consequence  of  the  Civil  War  in 
America,  the  scarcity  of  cotton  nearly  ruined  the 
English  manufacturers,  and  reduced  many  families 
in  the  north  of  England  to  abject  misery.  Ail 
classes,  no  matter  what  their  trade  or  occupation, 
are  affected  by  events  occurring  on  the  other  side 
of  the  globe. 

It  would  be  wise,  therefore,  for  every  one  to  give 
some  consideration  to  the  condition  of  the  world 
at  the  present  time,  and  to  endeavour  to  recognize 
things  as  they  are,  whether  agreeable  or  disagree- 
able ;  if  possible,  to  determine  the  laws  controlling 
the  occurrence  of  the  facts  observed.  If  the  con- 
dition of  things  be  found  ideal,  the  inquiry  need 
go  no  further.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  matters  be 
seen  as  capable  of  improvement,  each  individual 
can  decide  for  himself  whether  he  can  do  anything 
to  improve  the  conditions :  first,  for  his  own  sake, 
if  his  personal  welfare  concerns  him  chiefly ;  sec- 
ondly, for  the  sake  of  others,  if  the  welfare  of  others 
is  to  him  a  matter  of  secondary  importance. 

It  remains  to  be  settled,  then,  whether  the  pre- 
vailing conditions  are  capable  of  improvement. 

Even  a  cursory  view  of  the  situation  will  prob- 
ably oblige  the  most  persistent  optimist  to  admit 
that  the  world's  outlook  is  not  exactly  promising. 
Home  affairs  are  bad  enough.     Friction  between 


12  WORLD  POLITICS. 

Capital  and  Labor  is  a  constant  menace  to  the  pros- 
perity of  nearly  every  civilized  country.  Strikes  are 
continually  threatened,  and  often  take  disastrous 
effect,  injuring  the  interests  of  all  the  parties  con- 
cerned. Capital  combines,  Labor  combines,  and 
conflict  seems  inevitable. 

A  famous  French  novelist — before  getting  into 
difficulties  with  his  Government  —  attributed  to 
one  of  his  characters  the  following  summary  of  the 
political  situation  in  France : 

"  Toutes  les  questions  se  rapetissaient  a  la  seule 
question  de  savoir  qui,  de  celui-ci,  de  celui-la  ou 
de  cet  autre,  aurait  en  sa  main  la  France,  pour  en 
jouir,  pour  en  distribuer  les  faveurs  a  la  clientele 
de  ses  creatures.  Et  le  pis  etait  que  les  grandes 
batailles,  les  journees  et  les  semaines  per  dues  pour 
faire  succeder  celui-ci  a  celui-la,  et  cet  autre  a  celui- 
ci,  n'aboutissaient  qu'au  plus  sot  des  pietinements 
sur  place,  car  tons  les  trois  se  valaient,  et  il  n'avait 
entre  eux  que  de  vagues  differences,  de  sorte 
que  le  nouveau  maitre  gachait  la  meme  besogne 
que  le  precedent  avait  gachee,  forcement  oub- 
lieux  des  programmes  et  des  promesses,  des  qu'il 
regnait." 

With  some  modifications,  could  not  the  same 
conclusions  be  drawn  from  the  conduct  of  affairs 
in  other  countries  claiming,  as  France  claims,  to 
be  pre-eminently  civilized? 


THE  WORLD'S  OtfTLOOK.  13 

Turning  to  international  relationships,  the 
world's  outlook  would  appear  to  be  even  less  en- 
couraging. Nations  armed  to  the  teeth,  to  protect 
themselves  from  each  other,  all  declaring  that  their 
most  ardent  desire  is  for  peace !  Apart  from  the 
direct  expenditure  of  almost  incalculable  sums 
yearly  on  the  maintenance  of  armies  and  navies, 
with  a  resulting  burden  of  taxation  almost  heavier 
than  the  people  can  bear,  the  energies  of  millions 
of  men  throughout  the  world  are  constantly  di- 
verted into  non-productive  channels,  into  channels 
where  nothing  accumulates.  Meanwhile  children 
toil  in  factories,  and  thousands  of  families  starve 
to  death,  year  after  year,  for  want  of  bread.' 

»  Germany,  with  a  national  debt  of  some  3,000,000,000 
marks,  spending  over  500,000,000  marks  a  year  on  its  army 
and  navy,  maintaining  over  600,000  men  in  arms  on  a  peace 
footing — men  drawn  from  the  ranks  of  the  Empire's  workers, 
converted  from  producers  into  fighting  automata,  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Fatherland  from  France,  or  Russia,  or  some 
possible  combination  of  the  Powers. 

France,  in  order  to  protect  itself  from  the  possible  aggres- 
siveness of  Germany,  or  for  other  purposes,  maintaining  an 
army  of  nearly  600,000  men  on  a  peace  footing,  with  40,000 
more  in  the  navy — leaving  women  who  should  be  mothers 
to  do  the  work  of  men.  France,  with  a  total  debt  of 
about  32,000,000,000  francs,  largely  the  cost  of  past  wars, 
doing  little  with  its  wonderful  resources  but  prepare  for 
another ! 

Great  Britain,  spending  over  £40,000,000  annually  on  its 
army  and  navy,  with  a  debt  of  over  £621,000,000. 

The  United  States,  indebted  to  the  extent  of  $915,962,000, 


14  WORLD  POLITICS. 

True,  wars  are  not  frequent;  but  at  the  first 
threat  of  war — such  threats  being  frequent  enough 
— money  markets  fluctuate,  affecting  the  price  of 
food,  of  cotton,  iron,  and  every  necessity  of  life, 
changing  the  purchasing  power  of  the  wage-earn- 
er's pittance.  Nor  does  the  actual  infrequency 
of  war  make  the  sort  of  peace  which  prevails  any 
the  more  tolerable.  The  equipment  for  defence 
makes  the  absence  of  war  almost  more  oppressive 
and  more  destructive  of  internal  prosperity  than 
open  hostilities.  War  is  often  welcomed  as  a  relief 
from  the  tension  and  uncertainty  preceding  its 
occurrence. 

And  why  is  all  this  necessary  ?  "  The  better  to 
preserve  peace,"  we  are  told  by  some;  "To  defend 
ourselves  from  possible  attack,"  say  others.  But 
the  absurdity  of  such  excuses  as  reasons  must  be 

expending  some  $83,500,000  a  year  for  purposes  of  defence, 
but  obliged  to  increase  this  sum  enormously  on  the  first  out- 
break of  hostilities,  and  paying  $141,000,000  every  year  in 
pensions  as  a  result  of  the  Civil  War.  (See  The  Statesman's 
Tear- Book  for  the  above  figures. ) 

'Russia's  army,  on  a  peace  footing,  is  variously  estimated, 
the  numbers  given  ranging  from  870,000  to  1,700,000  men. 
According  to  The  Armies  of  To-day,  Russia  spends  thirty-five 
per  cent,  of  its  whole  public  revenue  for  military  purposes. 

Reliable  authorities  state  that  the  six  great  European  Pow- 
ers could  put  at  least  12,000.000  trained  men  into  the  field  in 
case  of  war,  for  the  armies  on  a  peace  footing  constantly 
change  their  personnel,  owing  to  the  system  of  conscription  and 
short  service  during  the  prime  of  life. 


THE  WORLD'S  OUTLOOK.  15 

patent  to  every  one  in  view  of  the  facts,  and  the 
facts  speak  for  themselves,  at  once  abominable  and 
pitiable  in  the  extreme. 

The  history  of  the  race,  so  far  as  it  has  been 
recorded,  shows  an  unceasing  strife  between  the 
nations.  At  first  sight  it  would  seem  that  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest  has  meant  little  else  but  the 
survival  of  the  strongest.  Nations  have  arisen, 
beginning  their  self-aggrandisement  by  overcom- 
ing their  immediate  neighbours ;  and,  pushing  on 
relentlessly  to  still  greater  victories,  they  have 
finally  ruled  the  world.  Then,  from  this  point  of 
view.  Time,  the  great  destroyer,  has  stepped  in  to 
do  its  work,  and  these  dominating  nations,  first 
one  and  then  another,  have  been  broken  on  its 
wheel,  leaving  scattered  remnants,  the  prey  of  as- 
cending powers.  So  to-day  we  see  some  nations 
struggling  desperately  to  maintain  their  own  pre- 
dominance, others  to  gain  supremacy  in  their  turn, 
all  in  arms  against  each  other — victims  of  them- 
selves. 

Civilization  in  a  culrde-sac,  has  been  the  comment 
of  pessimistic  observers ;  though  many  people  are 
so  accustomed  to  these  every -day  surroundings 
that  they  never  think  of  possible  improvement, 
hardly  realizing  the  need  of  it.  Yet  it  were  bet- 
ter, not  only  to  recognize  existing  facts,  but  to 
seek  for  their  explanation,  since  these  facts  con- 


16  WORLD  POLITICS. 

cern  every  one,  affect  every  one,  and  could  be 
affected  by  every  one. 

A  rapidly  increasing  number  of  people  are  be- 
ginning to  understand  this,  sometimes  because  the 
condition  of  the  world  is  evidently  and  even  obtru- 
sively affecting  their  personal  interests,  and  some- 
times because  they  see  that  herein  they  have  a  duty 
to  perform.  They  have  for  long  studied  the  laws 
of  health  in  relation  to  the  human  body,  and  now 
they  are  seeking  for  the  laws  of  health  which  gov- 
ern nations,  obedience  to  which  may  conserve  a 
nation's  life. 

The  last  few  years  have  seen  a  great  change  in 
this  respect.  Formerly,  foreign  affairs  were  sup- 
posed to  be  beyond  the  ken  of  any  but  cabinet 
officers  and  a  few  select  members  of  legislative 
assemblies.  To-day,  the  details  of  international 
occurrences,  whether  they  be  wars  or  treaties  of 
peace,  are  fully  reported  in  the  press,  and  are  dis- 
cussed by  tens  of  thousands  of  both  thinking  and 
unthinking  readers  in  every  part  of  the  world. 

So  it  happens  that  remedies  for  the  world's  dis- 
ease of  armament  are  occasionally  proposed.  One 
is  that  a  hugely  destructive  international  war  would 
clear  the  atmosphere  and  tend  to  promote  peace  by 
provoking  a  reaction  against  war.  But  history 
warrants  no  such  supposition.  On  the  contrary, 
universal  experience  has  amply  proved  that  one 


THE  WORLD'S  OUTLOOK.  17 

war  leads  to  another;  that  a  defeated  nation  is  a 
nation  awaiting  revenge,  and  that  a  victorious  na- 
tion is  a  nation  awaiting  further  conquests. 

Another  remedy  which  finds  support  is  the  vol- 
untary and  complete  disarming  of  all  the  nations  of 
the  world,  on  the  ground  that  war  is  fundamentally 
and  invariably  wrong.  Supposing  this  to  be  so,  it  is 
evident  that  the  nations  are  not  prepared  to  accept 
the  idea  as  a  correct  proposition,  even  in  the  ab- 
stract ;  much  less  are  they  prepared  to  act  upon  it 
in  the  way  proposed.  From  no  point  of  view  is 
the  remedy  feasible,  and  the  theory  upon  which  it 
is  based  is  open  to  serious  objection,  inasmuch  as 
the  strong,  from  an  ideal  standpoint,  will  always 
feel  it  their  duty  to  protect  the  weak,  so  long  as 
the  weak  need  protection,  and  this  may  involve  the 
use  of  force — war  in  some  form  or  another.  A 
community  of  saints  or  sages  could  alone  afford  to 
dispense  with  violence,  and  even  they  might  occa- 
sionally backslide  into  employing  it.  The  furthest 
one  can  go  in  this  direction  is  to  say  that  the  use 
of  force  should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  But 
how  this  minimum  is  to  be  arrived  at  is  another 
matter. 

To  submit  disputes  between  states  to  arbitration 
is  widely  suggested  as  the  only  means  of  relieving 
the  international  situation.  The  chief  objection  to 
this  method  is  that  the  result  of  arbitration,  as 


18  WORLD  POLITICS. 

heretofore  conducted,  is  in  no  way  binding  upon 
tlie  parties  concerned,  and  is  liable  to  lead  to  a 
bloodier  war  than  might  otherwise  have  taken 
place.  The  partial  and  temporary  damming  of  a 
river — in  this  case  of  anger  or  revenge — must  al- 
ways involve  a  tremendous  addition  to  its  volume 
and  destructive  power  whenever  the  dam  is  swept 
away.  So  while  arbitration  is  occasionally^  a  pal- 
liative, it  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  cure,  for  it  would 
not  lead  nations  to  reduce  their  armaments :  they 
would  want  to  fall  back  upon  them  in  case  the 
arbitrator's  decision  should  not  meet  with  their 
approval. 


CHAPTEK  n. 

The  World's  Outlook  and  a  Seaech  for  Causes. 

Correct  diagnosis  is  necessary  if  a  malady  is  to 
be  cured.  Causes,  not  effects,  must  be  dealt  with. 
So,  if  the  condition  of  the  world  is  found  to  be 
unsatisfactory  and  its  outlook  unpromising,  and 
we  would  attempt  to  improve  its  condition  and 
brighten  its  outlook,  we  must  seek  for  the  cause 
of  existing  circumstances  in  the  line  of  policy  be- 
ing pursued,  and  must  deal  with  the  cause  direct. 
For  although  the  present  international  situation 
is  evidently  the  result  of  a  series  of  actions  per- 
formed by  governments  and  peoples,  these  actions 
of  all  kinds,  producing  both  good  and  bad  results 
in  varying  degree,  spring  from  a  mental  concep- 
tion or  policy.  This  policy  is  the  outcome  of  a 
certain  attitude  of  mind. 

Thought  and  desire  are  expressed  in  action, 
action  being  an  effect,  not  a  primary  cause.  If 
one  man  strikes  another,  the  blow  results  from  a 
thought,  perhaps  of  irritation  or  anger.  It  is  also 
true  that  actions  react  upon  the  mind,  but  no  mat- 
ter what  relation  "  mind"  may  bear  to  "  matter,"  or 


20  WORLD  POLITICS. 

vice  versa,  it  is  evident  that  it  is  in  the  mind  that 
man  suffers  and  enjoys,  and  that  it  is  in  his  mind 
that  all  his  actions  directly  or  indirectly  origi- 
nate. In  other  words,  in  order  to  change  a  man's 
actions  it  is  necessary  to  change  his  attitude  of 
mind,  replacing  one  desire  with  another. 

It  follows  that  if  we  would  change  the  acts  of 
nations  we  must  endeavour  to  change  their  policy, 
first  determining  what  that  policy  is,  and  then  see- 
ing if  it  can  be  replaced  by  a  new  policy  with  prac- 
tical advantages  over  the  old  one.  It  is  always 
easier  to  criticise  than  to  create,  to  destroy  than 
to  construct;  and  although  the  results  so  far  ob- 
tained from  the  old  policy  can  hardly  be  consid- 
ered satisfactory,  if  no  better  suggestion  should  be 
forthcoming,  and  if  its  further  trial  be  likely  to  pro- 
mote the  prosperity  of  nations  and  to  increase  the 
happiness  of  the  individuals  composing  the  na- 
tions, it  should  undoubtedly  be  persevered  with  at 
all  costs.  On  the  other  hand,  its  results  being  so 
evidently  undesirable,  should  the  policy  in  itself 
be  judged  mistaken  or  narrow,  it  would  be  foolish 
to  persevere  with  it.  The  importance  of  deciding 
the  question  can  hardly  be  disputed. 

What  the  old  and  still-continued  policy  is,  has 
been  freely  admitted  by  every  one:  it  is  the  sole 
duty  of  all  governments  to  promote  the  prosperity 
of  the  country  they  represent.     In  order  to  do  this 


A  SEARCH  FOR  CJ^USES.  21 

it  is  generally  considered  necessary  to  increase  a 
country's  power  and  influence  by  adding  to  its  ter- 
ritory whenever  possible,  with  a  view  to  providing 
an  outlet  for  its  surplus  population  and  to  securing 
additional  markets  for  its  surplus  produce.  Wheth- 
er by  territorial  expansion  or  otherwise,  it  is  in 
any  case  deemed  to  be  the  duty  of  a  government  to 
promote  its  country's  welfare  by  practically  every 
means,  except  at  the  cost  of  national  dishonour. 

The  limitations  imposed  by  this  care  for  a  coun- 
try '  s  honour  are  somewhat  indefinite  however.  The 
honour  of  a  nation  and  the  honour  of  an  individual 
are  two  widely  different  things.  For  three  strong 
men  to  waylay  and  confiscate  the  property  of  a 
weak  man  would  commonly  be  regarded  as  an  ex- 
ceedingly dishonourable  act,  to  put  it  mildly.  Yet 
it  is  not  inferred  that  the  three  nations  that  par- 
titioned Poland  in  1795  really  dishonoured  them- 
selves by  so  doing,  any  more  than  it  is  considered 
that  the  nations  now  partitioning  China  should  no 
longer  be  regarded  as  honourable  on  that  account. 
To  extort  extravagant  interest  on  a  loan  to  a  friend 
would  be  condemned  as  disgraceful.  A  govern- 
ment, on  the  other  hand,  that  failed  to  obtain  the 
highest  possible  interest  on  a  loan  to  a  friendly 
nation,  or  the  largest  possible  concession  for  ser- 
vices rendered  or  to  be  rendered,  would  be  blamed 
for  incompetence. 


22  WORLD  POLITICS. 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  account  for 
this  disparity  between  the  accepted  standards  of 
national  and  of  individual  morality,  the  simplest 
explanation  of  the  incongruity  lying  in  the  repre- 
sentative character  of  a  government. 

In  the  narrower  field  of  personal  enterprise  the 
zeal  of  a  conscientious  agent  is  apt  to  run  into  ex- 
tremes of  cupidity  of  which  a  principal  would  not 
be  guilty.  It  is  supposed  that  a  man  can  afford  to 
be  just,  and  perhaps  generous,  on  his  own  account, 
but  when  acting  for  another  he  should  be  strictly 
"  business-like"  —  with  consequences  dependent 
upon  his  own  interpretation  of  the  word.  From  the 
ordinary  point  of  view,  and  using  words  attributed 
to  a  well-known  statesman,  because  "a  foreign 
minister  is  in  the  position  of  a  trustee,  and  his 
highest  if  not  his  sole  duty  is  to  push  and  protect 
the  interest  of  his  client,  the  nation,  he  must  be 
selfish,  more  selfish  even  than  a  gentleman  would 
be  in  private  life."  Hence  it  is  that  to  speak  of 
an  "  unselfish  statesman"  would  be  almost  a  contra- 
diction in  terms,  though  unselfish  individuals  are 
frequently  met  with  and  are  everywhere  respected.' 

Meanwhile  it  is  painfully  evident  that  the  moral 
standard  of  a  nation,  acting  through  its  represent- 

*  For  both  ancient  and  modern  views  concerning  the  mo- 
rality required  in  statesmanship,  see  Lord  Acton's  "Introduc- 
tion" to  Burd's  edition  of  II  Principe. 


A  SEARCH  FOR  CAUSES.  23 

atives,  is  lower  than  the  average  standard  of  these 
representatives  acting  in  their  personal  capacities, 
and  that  the  honour  of  a  state  cannot  be  seriously 
impugned  so  long  as  it  is  willing  to  fight  any  other 
state  not  more  than  twice  as  big  as  itself.  Hence 
the  efforts  made  by  most,  if  not  all  governments, 
to  promote  the  prosperity  of  their  respective  coun- 
tries, may  be  summarized  as  attempts  to  get  all 
they  can  and  to  give  or  pay  as  little  as  they  can, 
without  any  regard  whatever  for  the  welfare  of 
their  neighbours,  who  are  supposed  to  be  able  to 
look  after  their  own  interests,  and  to  do  this  in  the 
same  way  and  with  the  same  object  in  view. 

At  the  same  time,  and  in  order  to  check  indis- 
criminate and  inordinate  self-aggrandisement  by 
any  one  nation,  the  European  Powers  have  asserted 
that  the  "  Balance  of  Power"  must  be  maintained, 
though  it  may  appear  strange  that  states  pursuing 
what  has  been  called  a  policy  of  grab  should  take 
steps  to  limit  its  consequences.  Is  it  possible  that 
each  of  them  hopes  to  escape  the  limitations  it  at- 
tempts to  impose  upon  others?  For  the  Balance 
of  Power  means  the  preservation  of  a  kind  of  equi- 
poise between  the  nations  in  order  to  prevent  too 
great  an  increase  of  territory  on  the  part  of  any 
one  of  them. 

It  is  as  if  all  the  members  of  a  community  whose 
aim  it  is  to  increase  their  individual  wealth  by  every 


24  WORLD  POLITICS. 

possible  means,  regardless  of  one  another's  inter- 
ests, were  to  agree  among  themselves  that  they 
would  not  allow  any  one  of  their  number  to  get 
more  than  he  might  happen  to  own  already,  unless 
all  of  them  could  increase  their  capital  proportion- 
ately. A  somewhat  curious,  not  to  say  a  bewilder- 
ing scheme,  from  that  point  of  view. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  Balance,  first  estab- 
lished in  the  Treaties  of  Westphalia  and  Utrecht  of 
1648  and  1713,  and  to  which  so  many  salaams  have 
since  been  made,  has  been  continually  disturbed 
and  more  than  once  entirely  upset.  It  could  not 
prevent  the  acquisition  of  territory  by  genuine 
hereditary  rights ;  nor  could  it  prevent  treaties  of 
alliance  between  neighbouring  states;  nor  did  it 
originally  contemplate  the  acquisition  of  territory 
by  bona  fide  colonization.  Now  that  it  is  past  res- 
toration, many  statesmen  see  the  fallacy  of  the 
theory  upon  which  it  was  based. 

But  the  policy  of  self-aggrandisement  at  any 
price  except  loss  of  national  "  honour, "  of  which  the 
Balance  of  Power  was  in  a  sense  the  syzygy,  has 
not  yet  been  abandoned  by  the  European  nations, 
though  here  and  there  an  unusually  enlightened 
Minister  frankly  confesses  himself  dissatisfied  with 
its  results  and  doubtful  of  its  morality. 

Such  uncertainty  is  most  inopportune,  for  rarely 
has  there  been  more  need  of  a  well-defined  plan  of 


A  SEARCH  FOR  CAUSES.  25 

procedure  than  at  present.  Vast  stretches  of  terri- 
tory in  Asia  and  in  Africa  remain  unclaimed,  or  are 
without  owners  able  to  maintain  their  rights  by 
force — which  amounts  to  the  same  thing  from  the 
standpoint  of  current  international  ethics.  Most 
of  the  European  Powers  are  encroaching  upon 
these  territories  as  rapidly  as  decency  permits, 
and  one  encroachment  leads  to  another,  as  well  as 
to  constant  friction  and  jealousy. 

In  Europe  itself  the  danger  of  disturbance  is 
hardly  less  imminent,  for  old  and  formerly  power- 
ful nations  are  beginning  to  crumble ;  and  though 
their  parts  are  vigorous  enough,  the  question  will 
soon  arise  as  to  whether  they  are  to  be  allowed  an 
independent  existence  or  whether  they  are  to  be 
merged  into  other  states. 

Uncertainty  at  such  a  time  is  fatal,  and  yet  un- 
certainty exists  among  the  most  experienced  and 
reliable  statesmen,  whose  action  is  naturally  viti- 
ated by  doubt,  and  who  go  on  increasing  their 
country's  armaments  with  only  the  haziest  notion 
as  to  why  and  for  what  these  armaments  should  be 
used. 

Nor  is  this  uncertainty  confined  to  Europe.  In 
the  United  States  also,  the  gravest  doubts  are  en- 
tertained concerning  the  foreign  policy  to  be  pur- 
sued. For  the  seclusion  which  America  has  en- 
deavoured to  preserve  in  the  past  has  been  violently 


26  WORLD  POLITICS. 

interrupted,  and  while  some  of  its  people  desire  to 
see  their  country  stand  aloof  from  the  rest  of  the 
world  and  to  return  to  its  former  condition  of  iso- 
lation, others  urge  that  it  should  take  its  place 
among  the  Powers  as  an  expansive  and  acquisitive 
commonwealth.  There  are  also  those  who  seek  to 
discover  a  middle  course  between  what  they  regard 
as  these  two  unwise  extremes. 

It  is  perfectly  evident  that  the  career  of  a  man 
who  has  no  positive  aim  in  life  is  not  likely  to 
prove  successful.  A  clear-cut  purpose,  instigating 
all  a  man  does,  will  almost  insure  the  attainment 
of  his  object.  And  the  same  holds  true  of  nations. 
If  they  have  no  definite  "aim  in  life,"  no  settled 
policy,  they  will  have  no  chance  in  the  struggle 
for  existence  with  a  nation  whose  goal  is  always 
in  sight. 

So  it  is  a  matter  of  vital  moment  to  arrive  at 
an  understanding  in  regard  to  the  best  policy 
to  be  pursued,  not  only  because  prevailing  con- 
ditions are  so  unsatisfactory,  and  the  world's  out- 
look— seemingly,  at  least — is  so  unpromising ;  but 
because  in  no  other  way  can  consistent  instead  of 
spasmodic  and  conflicting  action  be  made  practi- 
cable. 


part  Secon&. 
GENERAL  CONSDDERATIONS. 


CHAPTEE  ni. 

What  is  Sound  Policy  ? 

The  merits  of  a  policy  can  be  decided  by  ap- 
proaching the  subject  either  deductively  or  induc- 
tively. The  policy  can  be  considered  in  the  ab- 
stract, in  relation  to  principle,  or  it  can  be  judged 
by  its  effects.  Both  methods  should  be  followed 
if  reliable  conclusions  are  to  be  reached. 

A  perfectly  correct  statement  of  principle  is  a 
statement  of  a  law  of  nature  or  fundamental  truth, 
ascertained  as  the  result  of  experience.  A  law  of 
nature — regardless  of  its  origin,  whether  divinely 
enacted  or  innate,  a  point  which  does  not  alter  the 
fact  now  under  consideration — is  a  statement  of 
the  sequence  or  regular  method  by  which  certain 
phenomena  or  effects  follow  the  activity  of  certain 
forces,  material  or  mental. 

Granted  the  same  conditions,  certain  given  causes 
will  invariably  produce  certain  given  results.  The 
application  of  heat,  up  to  a  certain  degree,  will  tend 
to  bring  about  the  expansion  of  the  object  treated; 
beyond  that  degree,  heat  will  cause  contraction. 
This  is  one  of  the  common  physical  laws,  know- 


30  WORLD  POLITICS. 

ledge  of  which  has  come  from  experience  and  ex- 
periment. 

In  the  domain  of  the  mind,  certain  laws  are  easily- 
recognizable.  Every  strong  emotion  is  followed  by 
a  reaction  to  the  other  pole  of  that  emotion.  In 
the  case  of  a  nervous  subject,  intense  exaltation  is 
followed  by  intense  depression ;  and  if  on  no  other 
grounds,  self-control  is  seen  to  be  advantageous,  so 
that  extremes  and  their  consequent  reactions  may 
be  avoided. 

In  nearly  every  department  of  life  certain  general 
laws  are  known  to  hold  good,  and  people  conform 
to  them,  though  often  without  recognizing  them  as 
such,  unaware  of  the  fact  that  they  are  to  that 
extent  acting  on  principle. 

In  the  political  world  the  administrators  of  most 
civilized  countries  have  learned  that  it  is  better  to 
govern  with  a  light  hand  than  with  severity.  A 
riot  might  be  quickly  suppressed  by  the  slaughter 
of  all  those  taking  part  in  it,  but  summary  treat- 
ment of  this  sort  has  been  found  to  be  injudicious, 
being  likely  to  provoke  further  and  worse  rioting ; 
and  as  soon  as  this  conclusion  had  been  reached, 
it  came  to  be  seen  that  a  reckless  use  of  force  and 
a  brutality  of  repression  were  contrary  to  right 
ethics.  So,  though  it  took  many  centuries  of  ex- 
perience to  prove  it,  it  is  now  usually  recognized  as 
a  principle  of  government  that  moderation  should 


WHAT  IS  SOUND  iPOLICYf  31 

be  exercised  in  dealing  with  the  governed,  and  that 
justice  should  be  tempered  with  mercy  or  at  least 
with  self-restraint. 

The  aboriginals  of  Tasmania  had  been  extermi- 
nated to  a  man  after  the  British  had  occupied  the 
island  for  less  than  seventy  years.  But  their  ill- 
treatment  occurred  many  years  ago,  as  did  the  ill- 
treatment  of  the  Indians  by  Americans.  Since  then, 
as  the  result  of  experience,  there  has  been  a  radi- 
cal change  of  policy  in  relation  to  native  races, 
and  to-day  they  are  protected  by  every  means  pos- 
sible, evidence  of  which  is  found  in  such  legislative 
measures  as  the  Glen  Grey  Act  of  Cape  Colony, 
and  in  the  care  now  bestowed  upon  the  North 
American  Indians  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment. 

It  came  to  be  recognized  that  native  races  had  a 
distinct  value^  for  purposes  of  labour  and  as  pur- 
chasers ;  that  it  therefore  paid  to  protect  them,  as 
they  could  not  always  protect  themselves;  and 
concurrently  with  this  conclusion  came  the  accept- 
ance of  the  fact  that  it  was  bad  enough  to  rob 
them  of  their  land,  and  that  to  rob  them  of  liberty 
and  life  as  well  was  to  outrage  every  known  prin- 
ciple of  justice.  Hence  it  is  now  admitted  as  a 
principle  of  colonial  government  that  a  certain 
duty  is  due  to  the  aboriginal  peoples  of  the  coun- 
tries occupied — a  reversal,  as  said,  of  the  earlier 


32  WORLD  POLITICS. 

policy,  which  treated  them  as  interlopers  or  as 
slaves. 

The  world  learns  slowly.  It  has  to  suffer  before 
it  learns.  It  has  to  go  on  suffering  until  by  the 
very  pressure  of  its  pain  it  is  obliged  to  review  its 
actions  and  the  prompting  policy,  to  find  them 
both  egregiously  foolish  as  a  rule.  If,  in  the  first 
place,  the  principle  of  justice  had  been  observed 
in  the  treatment  of  native  races,  the  loss  of  thou- 
sands of  valuable  lives  as  well  as  of  much  wealth — 
lives  and  wealth  of  conquerors  as  of  conquered — 
would  have  been  obviated.  If  the  British  admin- 
istrations of  the  Duke  of  Grafton  and  of  Lord 
North  had  observed  the  principle  of  justice,  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  might  have  been 
a  united  people  to-day.  But  might  and  right  have 
so  greatly  outbalanced  duty,  the  immediate  object 
to  be  gained  has  so  greatly  obscured  consideration 
of  the  future,  that  principles  have  been  lost  sight 
of,  and  a  short-sighted  expediency  has  generally 
served  to  instigate  action. 

The  whole  question  is  really  very  simple.  It 
resolves  itself  into  a  choice  between  temporary 
benefit  and  permanent  benefit.  In  order  to  obtain 
the  permanent  benefit  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to 
make  a  temporary  sacrifice ;  and  this,  people  do 
not  always  care  to  do,  largely  because  they  doubt 
the  truth  of  the  principle  by  the  observance  of 


WHAT  IS  SOUND tPOLICY?  33 

which  the  greater  benefit  may  be  secured,  while 
they  doubt  the  truth  of  the  principle  because  they 
ignore  facts  and  the  lessons  of  the  past  until 
through  their  own  sufi'ering  these  force  themselves 
upon  their  notice. 

"  The  supposed  antagonism  between  expediency 
and  principle  has  been  pressed  further  and  further 
away  from  the  little  piece  of  true  meaning  that  it 
ever  could  be  rightly  allowed  to  have,  until  it  has 
now  come  to  signify  the  paramount  wisdom  of 
counting  the  narrow,  immediate,  and  personal  ex- 
pediency for  everything,  and  the  whole,  general, 
ultimate,  and  completed  expediency  for  nothing. 
Principle  is  only  another  name  for  a  proposition 
stating  the  terms  of  one  of  these  larger  expedi- 
encies." * 

This  truth  is  not  sufficiently  appreciated  by 
many,  who  perhaps  do  not  understand  what  a 
"  principle"  implies.  They  are  careful  to  examine 
the  foundation  on  which  they  propose  to  build  a 
house ;  they  know  that  a  foundation  of  rock  is  bet- 
ter than  one  of  sand;  but  they  do  not  apply  the 
same  rule  universally,  and  will  plunge  headlong 
into  action  without  waiting  to  examine  the  basis 
of  their  action  or  its  probable  ultimate  result. 
They  allow  themselves  to  be  actuated  by  the  hope 
of  immediate  results,  either  ignoring  ultimate  re- 
*  Compromise,  p.  6,  by  John  Morley. 


34  WORLD  POLITICS. 

suits,  or  willing  to  risk  all  possible  consequences 
in  order  to  realize  their  present  desire. 

To  do  the  right  thing,  at  the  right  time,  and  in 
the  right  place,  is  the  whole  science  of  life.  And 
to  do  the  right  thing  involves  much  more  than  is 
commonly  supposed.  The  right  thing  is  not  only 
what  is  ordinarily  called  the  moral  thing,  but  the 
wise  thing  to  do  from  every  conceivable  stand- 
point; and  as  wisdom's  chief  constituent  is  an 
understanding  of  the  laws  of  life,  to  do  the 
right  thing  is  to  act  in  conformity  with  universal 
law. 

People  sometimes  lose  confidence  in  the  practi- 
cality of  doing  the  right  thing,  even  in  the  above 
wide  sense,  because  they  are  apt  to  abandon  their 
principle  at  the  first  hint  of  failure.  They  change 
the  basis  of  their  action,  and,  forgetting  that  it 
often  takes  time  for  satisfactory^  results  to  develop 
if  these  are  to  be  permanent,  they  debar  them- 
selves from  ultimate  success  by  descending  to  some 
wrong  expedient  in  order  to  change  the  current  of 
events  and  insure  instant  but  passing  benefits. 
When  these  passing  benefits  disappear,  they  at- 
tribute their  failure  to  their  attempt  to  act  upon 
principle — which  they  at  once  condemn  as  unprac- 
tical— oblivious  of  the  fact  that  they  have  not  been 
consistent  in  their  action,  and  that  they  changed 
their  course  in  the  middle  of  a  specific  manoeuvre, 


WHAT  IS  SOUND  tPOLICYf  35 

abandoning  principle,  and  reverting,  through  fear, 
to  their  customary  scramble  for  quick  returns  at 
any  price. 

If  this  be  sometimes  excusable  in  the  case  of  an 
individual,  acting  for  himself,  who  may  perhaps 
lose  his  head  in  the  swirl  of  events,  it  would  not 
be  excusable  for  a  general  commanding  an  army 
to  do  likewise ;  and  it  would  be  still  less  excusable 
for  a  government  controlling  the  destinies  of  a  na- 
tion to  be  actuated  by  motives  which  would  dis- 
grace an  individual,  if  it  were  not  that  deliberate 
action  is  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule  among 
men. 

In  the  case  of  a  government,  it  is  now  supposed, 
for  the  better  elucidation  of  the  argument,  that  it 
has  not  only  the  desire,  but  that  it  has  sufficient 
strength  of  will  to  enable  it  to  do  the  right  thing, 
once  the  right  thing  is  known.  Any  government 
would  claim  this  much  for  itself,  making  it  neces- 
sary to  take  it,  to  that  extent,  at  its  own  valua- 
tion. 

In  view  of  these  considerations,  it  is  of  real  im- 
portance to  discover  what  general  laws  or  funda- 
mental principles  should  govern  the  relations  of 
states.  Once  these  principles  are  determined,  it 
would  be  as  foolish  not  to  guide  a  nation's  conduct 
accordingly,  as  it  would  be  foolish  to  try  to  ig- 
nore the  tact  that  fire  burns;  for  if  one  tries  to 


36  WORLD  POLITICS. 

ignore  that  fact,  one  suffers,  and  suffers  need- 
lessly. And  if  one  ignores  true  principles,  which 
are  statements  of  fact,  one  invites  disaster,  instead 
of  using  such  facts  as  infallible  guides  to  happiness, 
progress,  and  peace. 


CHAPTEE  lY. 

The  Nature  and  Kelations  of  a  State. 

Before  attempting  to  discover  the  laws  which 
govern  international  relationships  and  the  princi- 
ples upon  which  action  in  connection  therewith 
should  be  based,  it  is  necessary  to  realize  that  this 
field  of  human  activity  is  a  department  of  life  as  a 
whole ;  that  it  is  not  subject  to  unique  conditions 
or  separable  from  other  kinds  of  human  endeavour 
and  industry. 

There  are  those  whose  object  it  seems  to  be  to 
divide  the  universe  into  fractions,  constructing  a 
pill-box  theory  of  things  in  general,  labelling  each 
box  with  elaborate  and  conscientous  care.  Even 
those  who  should  know  better  not  infrequently 
fall  victims  to  this  common  craze — the  craze  for 
specialization,  with  partitions  between  the  innu- 
merable departments :  Science,  tending  to  become 
a  science  of  little  pieces. 

It  is  not  a  rare  occurrence  to  find  a  physician  who 
has  become  a  specialist  attributing  every  malady 
he  encounters  to  some  abnormal  condition  of  that 
part  of  the  bodily  organism  he  has  endeavoured  to 


38  WORLD  POLITICS. 

make  his  own.  A  musician,  versed  in  the  laws  of 
harmony,  familiar  with  the  vibratory  theory  of 
sound,  will  not  often  seek  for  some  possible  connec- 
tion between  vibrations  of  sound  and  vibrations  of 
colour,  because,  forsooth,  he  has  his  own  depart- 
ment to  deal  with,  and  is  neither  painter  nor 
physicist;  nor  will  he  stop  to  study  the  effect  of 
different  sounds  and  combinations  of  sounds  upon 
the  nervous  system  and  the  mind,  although  his  life  is 
largely  devoted  to  playing  upon  these  living  instru- 
ments by  means  of  the  musical  tones  he  produces. 
An  exponent  of  religion  will  consider  it  sufficient 
to  understand  his  own,  and  about  the  last  thing  in 
the  world  he  usually  seeks  to  discover  are  points 
of  contact  between  his  own  and  other  beliefs. 

On  all  sides  there  is  this  tendency  toward  segre- 
gation; and  while  it  is  widely  admitted  to  be  a 
danger,  and  the  best  minds  of  the  day  are  con- 
stantly pointing  it  out,  it  will  doubtless  take  years 
to  change  the  present  marked  propensity  of  human 
thought  and  to  emphasize  adequately  the  impor- 
tance of  synthesis  as  well  as  of  analysis,  and  the 
need  of  broad  generalization  as  well  as  of  particular 
investigation.  "  To  see  unity  in  diversity  is  to  see 
God." 

Hard  and  fast  partitions  have  not  been  discov- 
ered, separating  one  department  of  nature  from 
another,  and  until  they  are,  we  can  afford  to  speak 


NATURE  AND  RELATION  OF  A  STATE.     39 

of  nature  as  continuous.  For  purposes  of  thought 
it  is  useful  to  specify  classes  and  categories,  spe- 
cies and  types,  races  and  families ;  but  it  would  be 
unwise  to  regard  them  as  separate  in  any  absolute 
sense.  Certain  general  laws  have  been  deter- 
mined, governing  all  the  departments  of  nature 
known  to  us ;  and  as  exceptions  to  these  laws  have 
not  been  discovered,  we  can  afford  to  speak  of 
them  as  universal. 

One  of  these  universal  laws  is  that  of  growth. 
Nothing  in  nature  is  stationary.  Dissolution  and 
decay  are  reactionary  processes  in  the  vast  sweep 
of  an  all-embracing  development.  Everything  is 
subject  to  this  law;  and  if  we  could  understand 
the  process  by  which  any  one  part  of  nature  grows 
at  each  stage  of  its  development,  we  should  under- 
stand the  growth  of  all  its  parts. 

"  Little  flower — if  I  could  understand 
What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 
I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is. " 

If,  then,  we  could  understand  the  physical,  men- 
tal, and  moral  development  of  an  individual,  we 
should  understand  the  physical,  mental,  and  moral 
development  of  a  nation,  of  which  the  individual 
is  a  part.  All  that  we  know  positively  of  the  one, 
we  know  of  the  other. 

A  human  being  is  said  to  be  an  entity  consist- 
ing, roughly  speaking,   of    (1)  a  physical  body, 


40  WORLD  POLITICS. 

divisible  into  certain  well-defined  departments, 
such  as  the  head,  lungs,  heart,  abdominal  region, 
and  so  forth,  these  being  sub-divisible  into  almost 
innumerable  parts,  composed  of  molecules  and 
millions  of  minute  "lives";  (2)  of  a  reasoning  fac- 
ulty or  mind,  also  heterogeneous  in  its  nature,  with 
countless  contradictory  elements,  and  thoughts 
which,  collectively,  might  be  compared  to  political 
parties  in  a  state,  seeing  that  they  can  be  broadly 
classified  in  characteristic  divisions ;  and  (3),  of  an 
ego,  or  continuous  sense  of  identity,  sometimes 
called  soul  or  spirit,  with  which  the  moral  nature 
is  frequently  connected. 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  a  nation  is  consti- 
tuted in  exactly  the  same  way.  A  nation  also 
owns  property,  incurs  debts,  buys  and  sells,  has 
"social"  relations  with  other  states,  is  subject  to 
the  law  of  decay  and  death,  its  term  of  life  being 
dependent  upon  the  original  soundness  of  its  con- 
stitution, the  conditions  (hygienic  or  economic) 
in  which  it  lives,  and  its  escape  from  a  sudden 
termination  to  its  career  as  the  result  of  accident 
by  war,  pestilence,  or  famine.  It  has  moral  and 
material  obligations,  as  in  the  case  of  an  individual. 

The  truth  of  this  fundamental  proposition,  af- 
firmed by  so  many  philosophers,'  is  granted  by 
the  recognized  authorities  on  international  law, 
*  See  Note  A. ,  on  "  A  Nation  an  Organism.  " 


NATURE  AND  RELATI&NS  OF  A  STATE.     41 

who  postulate  "  of  those  independent  states  which 
are  dealt  with  by  international  law,  that  they  have 
a  moral  nature  identical  with  that  of  individuals, 
and  that  with  respect  to  one  another  they  are  in 
the  same  relation  as  that  in  which  individuals 
stand  to  each  other  who  are  subject  to  law.  They 
are  collective  persons,  and  as  such  they  have  rights 
and  are  under  obligations."  ^ 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  if  we  can  determine 
with  certainty,  and  with  sufficient  elasticity,  what 
general  principles  ought  to  govern  the  relations  of 
men  with  each  other,  we  can,  by  means  of  an  im- 
pregnable induction,  determine  what  general  prin- 
ciples ought  to  govern  international  relationships. 
But  just  as  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  expect  the 
average  individual  to  conduct  his  affairs  wholly  on 
the  basis  of  right  principle,  so  would  it  be  to 
expect  the  same  of  a  nation.  Growth  takes  place 
gradually.  After  sudden  impulse  has  more  Or  less 
frequently  led  to  right  action,  comes,  in  time,  the 
recognition  of  right  in  itself.  But  the  desire  to  do 
right  and  the  ability  to  do  so  also  take  time  to  de- 
velop. Furthermore,  there  are  certain  depart- 
ments of  life  in  which  it  is  easier  to  conform  to 
principle  than  in  others,  because  to  do  so  requires 
less  seeming  sacrifice  of  personal  interests,  while 

^A  Treatise  on  International  Law,  Part  I.,  chap,  i.,  §  1, 
by  W.  E.  Hall. 


4^  WORLD  POLITICS. 

in  many  cases  the  benefits  resulting  from  obedi- 
ence to  these  laws  are  overwhelmingly  manifest. 

The  first  step,  however,  is  to  decide  what  prin- 
ciples ought  to  he  conformed  to;  what,  in  other 
words,  should  be  the  aim  of  individuals  and  na- 
tions, not  in  the  ultimate  sense,  but  in  the  sense 
of  the  stage  next  to  be  reached.  How  this  aim  can 
be  realized,  and  to  what  extent  practical  measures 
can  be  taken  immediately  to  give  preliminary  effect 
to  this  recognition  of  principle,  is  another  though 
equally  important  matter. 


CHAPTEE  V. 

Laws  of  Lite. 

The  past  hundred  years  have  witnessed  an  enor- 
mous development  of  the  ethical  idea  among  civi- 
lized people.  The  greatest  thinkers  and  writers 
have  devoted  themselves  to  elucidating  moral  ques- 
tions. Men  and  women  of  all  creeds  and  philoso- 
phies have  united  in  this  work,  so  that  it  is  no 
longer  necessary  to  adopt  a  dogmatic  attitude  in 
propounding  moral  truths,  even  if  that  were  still 
effective ;  and  there  is  an  element  of  native  "  cus- 
sedness"  in  most  people,  so  that  to  say  to  them 
"Thou  shalt  not,"  is  apt  to  incite  the  mental  re- 
tort, "I  shall." 

The  reasonableness  of  a  rule  of  conduct  must  be 
made  clear  before  it  can  be  generally  accepted  by 
thinking  people.  The  command,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
steal,"  for  example,  has  been  discussed  from  count- 
less points  of  view,  by  Agnostics,  Positivists,  Ma- 
terialists, Deists,  Theists,  Pantheists,  Idealists, 
as  well  as  by  every  known  type  of  orthodox  and 
heterodox  Christian.  All  have  adduced  over- 
whelming  arguments   to  prove   that   stealing   is 


44  WORLD  POLITICS. 

wrong.  Some  have  claimed  to  be  able  to  demon- 
strate logically  that  it  is  not  only  contrary  to  the 
moral  law,  but  that  it  defeats  its  own  end,  if  that 
end  be  the  increase  of  personal  happiness.  From 
that  point  of  view,  and  in  other  words,  the  crude 
truth  is  that  stealing  does  not  pay,  while  honesty 
does. 

Certain  authorities  say  that  it  is  wise  to  be  hon- 
est because  it  is  right  to  be  honest,  approaching 
the  matter  from  their  ideal  of  right.  Others  say 
that  it  is  right  to  be  honest  because  it  is  wise  to  be 
honest,  approaching  the  same  question  from  the 
standpoint  of  experience.^  From  either  point  of 
view  the  result  is  the  same ;  and  this  may  be  taken 
as  additional  proof  that  the  truly  ideal  is  also  the 
truly  practical,  and  that  sound  principle  is  "  only 
another  name  for  a  proposition  stating  the  terms" 
of  a  far-sighted  instead  of  a  short-sighted  expedi- 
ency. 

There  are  extremists  whom  it  annoys  to  be  told 
that  honesty  pays.  They  look  upon  it  as  a  degra- 
dation of  the  ideal,  as  a  pandering  to  purely  selfish 
instincts.  "  Avoid  extremes,"  said  Confucius,  who 
generally  showed  good  sense.  Enlightened  selfish- 
ness produces  the  same  result,  in  action,  as  en- 

^  "  There  is  much  greater  agreement  among  thoughtful  per- 
sons on  the  question  what  a  good  life  is,  than  on  the  question 
why  it  is  good, "  says  Professor  Sidgwick  in  his  Practical 
Ethics  (p.  43) . 


LAWS  OF^IFE.  45 

lightened  unselfishness — the  enlightenment  being 
the  active  partner  in  the  combination/  That  is 
the  point  that  extremists  overlook.  They  are  of 
necessity  lopsided  and  can  never  consider  anything 
from  more  than  one  standpoint ;  they  concern  them- 
selves with  excrescences  rather  than  with  essences, 
and  with  superficialities  instead  of  with  funda- 
mentals. 

It  is  not  even  necessary  to  take  the  interdepend- 
ence of  humanity  into  account  in  order  to  show 
that  hypocrisy,  untruthfulness,  malignity,  hatred, 
injustice,  covetousness,  arrogance,  cowardliness, 
ingratitude,  improbity,  intemperance,  and  all  the 
vices  are  reactionary  in  their  effect,  tending  to  de- 
feat instead  of  further  their  supposed  ends. 

A  persistently  untruthful  man  never  deceives  any 
one.  A  man  imbued  with  hatred  destroys  his  own 
happiness  and  almost  invariably  injures  himself 
more  than  any  one  else.  An  intemperate  man,  if 
desirous  of  stimulating  his  consciousness,  reaches 
a  point  at  which  he  becomes  oblivious  of  every 
sensation ;  while,  if  desirous  of  deadening  his  con- 
sciousness, he  reaches  a  point  at  which  its  activity 
becomes  agonizingly  accentuated. 

The  law  that  every  cause  produces  a  proportion- 
ate effect  and  that  every  effect  is  preceded  by  some 
adequate  cause,  makes  it  impossible  to  sin  against 
*  See  Note  B.,  on  "  Unselfishness. " 


46  WORLD  POLITICS. 

nature  without  being  punished  by  nature.  Man 
must  reap  the  seed  of  his  own  sowing,  good,  bad, 
and  indifferent.  Ever}'-  force,  once  liberated,  re- 
acts back  upon  the  centre  from  which  it  originated. 
Machiavelli's  hero,  Caesar  Borgia,  was  no  excep- 
tion to  the  rule — an  object-lesson  which  seems  to 
have  been  wasted  upon  the  author  of  11  Principe. 

"Foolish  men  imagine  that  because  judgment 
for  an  evil  thing  is  delayed,  there  is  no  justice, 
but  an  accidental  one,  here  below.  Judgment  for 
an  evil  thing  is  many  times  delayed  some  day  or 
two,  some  century  or  two,  but  it  is  sure  as  life,  it 
is  sure  as  death!"  So  spoke  Carlyle,  re-echoing 
the  conclusions  of  every  careful  student  of  history, 
as  of  all  those  who  have  but  observed  the  sequence 
of  their  own  lives,  irrespective  of  their  religion, 
philosophy,  or  lack  of  either. 

Just  as  the  commission  of  positive  wrong  results 
in  positive  injury  to  the  wrong-doer,  so  the  active 
virtues  bring  with  them  their  own  reward.  Take 
generosity,  not  only  of  purse,  but  of  mind  and 
sympathy.  Is  it  not  evident  that  the  generous 
man — if  he  be  truly  generous,  with  the  generosity 
that  neither  seeks  nor  expects  compensation — 
arouses  a  like  attitude  toward  himself  in  others? 
A  generous  employer  will  get  far  more  work  out 
of  his  men  than  could  a  niggard,  and  in  a  time  of 
crisis  his  men  would  stand  by  him  loyally,  while 


LAWS  OF  jfjIFE.  47 

they  would  seize  their  chance  to  make  the  niggard 
suffer  for  his  treatment  of  them.  To  give  gener- 
ous measure  is  to  bring  generous  returns  in  any 
trade. 

Most  truths  are  commonplace,  ethical  truths 
particularly.  The  difficulty,  however,  is  to  get 
them  appreciated  as  being  such,  though  the  diffi- 
culty has  been  largely  overcome  where  the  every- 
day virtues  are  concerned.  It  is  now  generally 
conceded  that  to  be  temperate,  honest,  courag- 
eous, charitable,  just,  kindly,  tolerant,  truthful, 
and  straightforward  is  not  only  right,  but  wise 
and  even  profitable.  Let  it  be  stated  again  that  to 
do  and  to  be  otherwise  is  to  court  unnecessary 
suffering,  for  principles  of  right  thought  and  act- 
ion are  truths  of  nature  expressed  in  terms  of 
ethics,  and  truths  of  nature  are  facts  which  cannot 
be  gainsaid  with  comfort. 

These  active  virtues  may  be  classified  as  duties 
which  man  owes  his  fellows.  If  he  does  not  try  to 
fulfil  them  he  is  working  against  progress,  against 
the  great  tide  of  universal  life,  and  will  consequent- 
ly find  himself  overcome,  if  he  live  long  enough, 
by  the  opposition  he  needlessly  generates. 

Such  a  statement  may  appear  to  impugn  the 
theory  of  the  struggle  for  existence  and  the  result- 
ing "survival  of  the  fittest,"  but  such  an  appear- 
ance would  be  totally  delusive,  for  the  statement 


48  WORLD  POLITICS. 

is  in  direct  accordance  with  the  whole  scheme  of 
evolution.  This  was  admirably  demonstrated  by 
Professor  Huxley  in  his  Eomanes  Lecture  for  1893, 
on  " Evolution  and  Ethics."    In  it  he  says : 

"  There  is  another  fallacy  which  appears  to  me 
to  pervade  the  so-called  'ethics  of  evolution.'  It 
is  the  notion  that  because,  on  the  whole,  animals 
and  plants  have  advanced  in  perfection  of  organ- 
ization by  means  of  the  struggle  for  existence  and 
the  consequent  'survival  of  the  fittest';  therefore 
men  in  society,  men  as  ethical  beings,  must  look 
to  the  same  process  to  help  them  towards  perfec- 
tion. I  suspect  that  this  fallacy  has  arisen  out  of 
the  unfortunate  ambiguity  of  the  phrase  'survival 
of  the  fittest. '  'Fittest'  has  a  connotation  of  'best' ; 
and  about  'best'  there  hangs  a  moral  flavour.  In 
cosmic  nature,  however,  what  is  'fittest '  depends  upon 
the  conditions,  .  .  . 

"  Men  in  society  are  undoubtedly  subject  to  the 
cosmic  process.  As  among  other  animals,  multi- 
plication goes  on  without  cessation  and  involves 
severe  competition  for  the  means  of  support.  The 
struggle  for  existence  tends  to  eliminate  those  less 
fitted  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  circumstances 
of  their  existence.  The  strongest,  the  most  self- 
assertive,  tend  to  tread  down  the  weaker.  But 
the  influence  of  the  cosmic  process  on  the  evolu- 
tion of  society  is  the  greater  the  more  rudimentary 


LAWS  OF  Lp^E.  49 

its  civilization.  Social  progress  means  a  checking 
of  the  cosmic  process  at  every  step  and  the  substi- 
tution for  it  of  another,  which  may  be  called  the 
ethical  process ;  the  end  of  which  is  not  the  sur- 
vival of  those  who  may  happen  to  be  the  fittest,  in 
respect  of  the  whole  of  the  conditions  which  exist, 
but  of  those  who  are  ethically  the  best." 

In  a  note  Professor  Huxley  explains  that  "Of 
course,  strictly  speaking,  social  life  and  the  ethi- 
cal process  in  virtue  of  which  it  advances  towards 
perfection,  are  part  and  parcel  of  the  general  pro- 
cess of  evolution."  * 

Humanity  is  interdependent,  like  the  solar  sys- 
tem, in  which  each  planet  revolves  upon  its  own 
axis,  yet  is  affected  by  the  other  planets,  all  of 
which  are  dependent  upon  each  other  and  the  cen- 
tralizing sun  for  their  positions,  movements,  and 
very  existence. 

Circulation  is  a  sine  qua  non  of  life;  isolation 
results  in  death.  No  man  can  cut  himself  off  from 
the  community  in  which  he  lives.  He  is  a  vital 
part  of  it,  and  as  a  part  he  owes  to  other  parts  cer- 
tain duties,  many  of  which  are  ethical ;  and  if  he 
does  not  fulfil  these  and  so  share  in  the  circulation 
of  the  organic  body  in  which  he  is  incorporated,  he 

» Evolutim  and  Ethics,  pp.  83,  33  and  Note  19.     For  Mr. 
Herbert  Spencer's  views  on  the  same  subject,  see  Note  C,  in 
this  volume,  on  "  The  Morality  of  the  Evolutionary  Process.  " 
4 


50  WORLD  POLITICS. 

dies — ethically,  in  any  event — after  having  under- 
gone innumerable  injuries  and  pains,  moral,  men- 
tal, and  material,  just  as  a  limb  or  an  organ  dies  if 
it  does  not  perform  its  part  in  the  human  system. 

Those  who  perpetually  proclaim  the  rights  of 
the  individual  as  an  independent  entity  are  ex- 
tremists after  their  kind;  those  vrho  over-insist 
upon  the  paramount  rights  of  society  over  the  in- 
dividual are  extremists  after  theirs.  Both  place 
the  individual  in  opposition  to  his  fellows.  There 
is  "the  middle  path,"  which,  being  the  path  of 
nature  and  of  fact,  reconciles  the  two  extremes. 
And  that  is  the  path  of  duty :  not  the  everlasting 
assertion  of  rights,  but  the  fulfilment  of  duty — that 
is  the  road  to  prosperity  and  progress,  and  that 
places  the  individual,  not  in  opposition  to  his  fel- 
lows, but  in  accord  with  them,  dependent  upon 
them  as  they  are  dependent  upon  him.^ 

There  is  the  duty  of  the  individual  (a)  to  him- 
self, (h)  to  other  individuals,  (c)  to  the  community 
of  which  he  is  a  part,  and  {d)  to  other  communi- 
ties (nations).     Until  he  recognizes  these  duties  to 

i"The  things  that  people  stand  most  in  need  of  being 
reminded  of  are,  one  would  think,  their  duties— for  their 
rights,  whatever  they  may  be,  they  are  apt  enough  to  attend 
to  of  themaelves.  " — Jeremy  Bentham's  "Works, ''  vol.  ii.,  p. 
51.  It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  Bentham's  utilitarian- 
ism can  be  considered  sentimental,  even  by  the  most  "prac- 
tical "  of  politicians. 


LAWS  OF  J.IFE.  51 

some  extent  and  at  least  tries  to  fulfil  them,  lie  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  touched  the  sphere  of  civil- 
ization. He  is  not  even  selfish  in  the  enlightened 
sense,  for,  as  has  been  said  already,  enlightened 
selfishness  produces  the  same  results,  in  action^  as 
enlightened  unselfishness. 

It  would  not  be  profitable  to  attempt  to  discrim- 
inate between  the  duties  man  owes  himself  and 
those  he  owes  his  fellows.  His  doing  of  both  right 
and  of  wrong  reacts  upon  himself,  while  others  are 
affected  by  it  both  directly  and  indirectly :  directly 
as  the  result  of  the  action,  and  indirectly  as  the 
result  of  example.  Just,  he  upholds  the  ideal  of 
justice;  law-abiding,  he  inspires  respect  for  law 
and  order ;  self-reliant  and  considerate  of  the  rights 
of  others,  he  stands  as  a  representative  of  liberty. 
His  responsibility  in  this  respect  is  a  serious  one, 
and  the  more  prominent  his  position  among  men, 
the  greater  must  be  his  responsibility. 

These,  broadly  speaking,  are  the  conclusions 
which  most  thinking  people  have  arrived  at,  con- 
cerning the  principles  of  conduct  which  should 
govern  the  relations  of  individuals  with  each  other. 


CHAPTEK  YI. 

Peinciples  of  National  Conduct. 

It  was  shown  in  the  first  place  that  every  one  is 
in  some  way  concerned  in  international  affairs; 
that  no  one  can  remain  unaffected  by  the  doings 
of  his  own  country  in  relation  to  others,  nor  even 
by  complications  between  states  on  the  other  side 
of  the  globe. 

It  was  then  shown  that  it  would  be  advisable 
for  every  one  not  only  to  seek  to  discover  the  laws 
which  govern  this  department  of  universal  life  and 
the  principles  upon  which  action  connected  there- 
with should  be  based,  but  to  stand  immovably  by 
such  principles,  once  discovered,  refusing — so  far 
as  possible — to  be  influenced  by  merely  ephemeral 
considerations,  taking  the  wider  instead  of  the  nar- 
row view,  thinking  of  years  and  the  harvest  of  years 
as  well  as  of  the  showing  of  days  and  of  hours. 

Following  this,  it  was  pointed  out  that  to  under- 
stand the  laws  governing  the  physical,  mental,  and 
moral  development  of  an  individual  is  to  under- 
stand the  laws  governing  the  physical,  mental,  and 
moral  development  of  a  nation ;  that  to  determine 


PRINCIPLES  OF  NATIONAL  CONDUCT.       53 

the  general  principles  whicli  should  govern  the 
relations  of  men  with  each  other  is  to  determine 
the  general  principles  which  should  govern  inter- 
national relationships. 

Lastly,  the  principles  of  conduct  which  should 
govern  the  relations  of  individuals  with  each  other 
were  reviewed,  and  from  what  was  then  said  it 
must  follow  that  a  nation — supposing  it  claims  to 
have  passed  the  wild-beast  stage  of  its  evolution — 
must  have  duties  to  perform  similar  to  those  which 
should  be  binding  upon  men;  that  it  too  should 
stand  as  a  representative  of  liberty,  of  law  and 
order;  that  it  too  should  uphold  the  ideal  of  jus- 
tice. It  may  not  always  succeed,  but  the  effort 
should  be  made.  Failing  in  this,  it  fails  to  at- 
tempt the  performance  of  its  duty;  continually 
failing  to  perform  its  various  duties  (a)  to  itself, 
(6)  to  other  nations,  and  (c)  to  the  world  as  a 
whole,  it  will  sooner  or  later  come  to  a  standstill 
in  its  development,  stagnate,  and  then  die.  By 
violating  principle  it  invites  disaster,  and  nature 
steps  in  to  put  an  end  to  one  of  her  products  that 
has  ceased  to  perform  its  function.  By  refusing  to 
recognize  the  "ethical  process"  (using  Professor 
Huxley's  terminology),  and  by  adhering  to  the 
material  or  "cosmic  process"  after  that  has  ceased 
to  be  the  meaTis  of  growth^  a  nation  moves  against 
the  current  of  universal  life,  every  movement  giving 


64  WORLD  POLITICS. 

rise  to  friction  both  within  and  without  itself  as  it 
retrogresses  and  disintegrates. 

The  greater  a  nation's  strength  and  attainments  as 
a  result  of  the  cosmic  process,  the  more  urgent  the 
need  for  it  to  adapt  itself  to  the  conditions  which 
the  social  state  introduces.  Having  reached  the 
acme  of  brute  development,  its  decline  will  be  all 
the  more  swift  unless  it  conforms  to  the  require- 
ments of  nature,  submits  to  the  ethical  process, 
and  adopts  the  social  habits. 

Instead  of  ceaselessly  proclaiming  its  rights, 
with  a  jealousy  that  would  be  ridiculous  in  an 
individual,  it  must  pay  at  least  some  attention  to 
its  duties,  for  only  in  that  way  can  it  survive  the 
struggle  for  existence,  the  result  of  which  is,  after 
a  certain  point,  the  survival  of  "  those  who  are  eth- 
ically the  best." 

But  for  a  nation  suddenly  to  change  its  policy 
would  be  almost  undesirable,  even  supposing  it 
were  possible.  Sudden  "  conversions"  are  too  fre- 
quently followed  by  sudden  submersions,  in  more 
senses  than  one.  Extremes  are  always  wrong. 
Nature  never  hurries  in  her  processes.  Mental 
and  moral  evolution,  to  be  healthy,  must  take 
place  by  the  extension  of  previous  ideas  and  the 
accentuation  of  previously  existing  tendencies. 
Yet,  if  we  see  the  first  small  sprouting  from  an 
acorn,  the  promise  of  a  future  oak-tree  is  before 


PRINCIPLES  OF  NATIONAL  CONDUCT.       66 

our  eyes;  and  if  it  be  possible  to  detect  the  faint- 
est ethical  tendency  in  the  conduct  of  one  or  more 
nations  at  the  present  time,  we  may  be  sure  that 
this  tendency  is  the  promise  of  the  moral  develop- 
ment in  question. 

Although,  broadly  speaking,  in  the  case  of  man, 
the  same  ethical  conceptions  and  rules  of  conduct 
have  been  promulgated  by  the  world's  greatest 
teachers  in  every  historical  period,  the  capacity 
of  the  average  individual  to  appreciate  ethics  has 
not  remained  the  same.  In  the  course  of  his  evo- 
lution from  a  barbarous  to  a  civilized  condition,  it 
is  evident  that  his  conception  of  right  and  wrong 
has  undergone  considerable  alteration.  The  moral 
standard  of  the  nineteenth-century  Briton,  for  in- 
stance, is  in  many  respects  a  good  deal  higher 
than  that  of  his  progenitor  as  portrayed  by  Julius 
Caesar.* 

National  morality  must  be  subject  to  the  same 
law;   it,  too,  must  change;  and  though  no  hasty 

^  It  is  probable  that  in  a  thousand  years  from  now  our  pres- 
ent standard  of  morality  will  be  considered  primitive  in  the 
extreme  ;  but  this  need  not  necessarily  involve  the  supposi- 
tion that  right  and  wrong  change  in  themselves.  All  that  it 
proves  is  that  man's  power  to  discriminate  between  the  two 
is  a  faculty  that  develops  in  the  course  of  time  as  the  result 
of  his  increasing  experience.  His  moral  responsibilitj"  must 
be  proportionate  to  his  ability  to  discriminate  between  good 
and  evil,  and  on  this  account  there  is  truth  in  the  saying 
that  what  is  right  in  one  age  is  wrong  in  another. 


56  WORLD  POLITICS. 

change  is  to  be  looked  for  or  desired,  it  must  be 
fatal  to  the  welfare  of  a  state  to  be  hide-bound  by- 
precedent.  Conditions  vary,  and  conduct  must 
keep  pace  with  the  conditions  of  progress. 

While  many  nations  have  taken  the  first  step  in 
their  ethical  development  by  the  unpremeditated 
doing  of  right,  few,  if  any,  have  taken  the  second 
—the  recognition  of  right  principle  or  general  law 
upon  which  their  conduct  should  be  based.  A 
narrow  policy  has  been  their  only  guide,  redeemed 
at  times  by  outbursts  of  noble  sentiment  and  gen- 
erous impulse.  Sentiment,  however,  is  notori- 
ously unreliable  as  a  motive  power;  its  direction 
is  always  uncertain,  and  although  it  may  occasion- 
ally conduce  to  good,  its  results  are  frequently  evil. 
Just  men  have  been  burned  at  the  stake  on  senti- 
mental grounds.  Kecognition  of  general  laws  is 
necessary  before  a  consistent  and  consecutive  course 
of  action  can  be  followed,  and  nations,  to  progress, 
must  endeavour  to  conform  to  them. 

No  matter  how  long  it  may  take,  the  present 
ethical  ideal  of  man  must,  in  the  course  of  evolu- 
tion, become  the  ethical  ideal  of  nations ;  and  the 
longer  this  is  deferred  the  longer  wiU  suffering 
continue,  resulting  from  the  violation  of  right 
principle. 

The  higher  the  aim  the  higher  will  be  the  at- 
tainment; but  although  it  would  be  almost  hoi)e- 


PRINCIPLES  OF  NATIONAL  CONDUCT.       57 

less  to  set  up  as  an  immediate  and  practical  aim 
the  fulfilment  by  nations  of  all  their  duties,  there 
are  undoubtedly  certain  duties  which,  already  rec- 
ognized to  some  extent,  need  to  be  more  widely 
appreciated,  and  the  tendency  to  fulfil  them  accent- 
uated by  every  means  possible. 

It  was  discovered  long  ago,  and  has  often  been 
pointed  out,  that  a  vanquished  state  reaps  the 
benefit  of  an  honourable  reputation,  for  if  its  prom- 
ises cannot  be  relied  upon  by  the  victor,  self-inter- 
est will  impel  the  victor  to  annihilate  the  victim. 
More  recently  it  has  been  dawning  upon  the  inter- 
national consciousness  that  to  be  truthful,  honest, 
just,  conciliatory,  tolerant,  and  even  generous,  is 
not  only  right,  but  actually  profitable.  This  most 
desirable  state  of  things  is  attributable  to  the  grow- 
ing perception  that  nations,  like  individuals,  are 
interdependent ;  that  their  interests  are  fundament- 
ally the  same;  that  what  injures  one  injures  all, 
and  that  the  welfare  of  one  reacts  advantageously 
upon  the  rest. 

The  consistent  application  of  this  principle  is 
vigorously  and  even  bitterly  opposed  by  some  peo- 
ple, who,  shameless  where  the  alleged  welfare  of 
their  country  is  concerned,  clamour  for  "  practical" 
procedure,  publicly  defining  this  as  a  policy  whose 
aim  it  is  to  get  as  much  and  to  give  as  little  as  possi- 
ble, quite  regardless  of  the  consequences  to  other 


58  WORLD  POLITICS. 

nations — and  quite  regardless  of  consequences  to 
their  own,  if  they  had  sense  enough  to  see  it.' 

Much  is  it  to  be  regretted  that  these  benighted 
individuals,  who  perpetually  plume  themselves 
upon  being  worldly-wise,  and  who  denounce  any 
reference  to  principle  as  sentimental,  do  not  pause 
to  discover  what  a  principle  is.  The  subject  has 
been  admirably  elucidated  by  thinkers  and  writers 
who  have  never  been  accused  of  either  sanctimony 
or  romanticism. 

The  person  who  announces  himself  as  practical 
would  hardly  deny  that  in  the  commercial  world 
experience  has  fully  demonstrated  that,  in  the  long 
run,  a  firm  with  a  reputation  for  unimpeachable 
honesty  has  an  enormous  advantage  over  its  com- 
petitors ;  he  would  probably  claim,  if  he  were  Eng- 
lish, that  one  explanation  of  England's  "  supremacy 
in  trade"  is  that  its  manufacturers  have  the  reputa- 
tion of  actually  selling  what  they  promise  to  sell; 
he  might  go  so  far  as  to  confess  that  a  politician 
who  keeps  his  word  and  who  gives  evidence  of  love 
of  country  rather  than  of  love  of  self,  and  of  fairness 
in  dealing  with  his  opponents,  is  more  likely  to 
succeed  in  the  end  than  one  who  will  do  and  say 
anything  to  catch  a  vote  or  to  gain  a  temporary 
advantage  over  his  political  adversaries.     But  the 

*  See  Note  D. ,  on  "  *  Splendid  Isolation, '  or  the  Interdepend- 
ence of  Nations. " 


PRINCIPLES  OF  NATfoNAL  CONDUCT.       59 

same  person  protests  against  the  application  of 
such  principles  in  foreign  affairs,  not  content  with 
the  quid  pro  quo  which  he  adopts  as  his  shibboleth, 
and  insisting  that  a  policy  of  "  expansive  acquisi- 
tion" is  the  only  sensible  course  to  pursue — an  in- 
ternational kleptomaniac,  judged  charitably.  He 
perhaps  forgets  that  "each  for  himself  and  the 
devil  take  the  hindmost,"  inevitably  results  in  the 
devil  taking  the  lot. 

But  this  brazen  contempt  for  ethics  is  a  mere 
relic  of  the  brute  struggle  for  existence  at  any  price, 
and  those  who  favour  it  are  the  reversions,  unavoid- 
able in  evolution.  The  long-lost  stripes  of  the 
wild  horse  will  appear  occasionally  in  the  present 
domesticated  animal. 

There  are  others,  however,  who  feel  themselves 
obliged  to  countenance  dishonesty  in  international 
procedure,  and  who  do  so  with  regret.  Their  in- 
tentions are  good. 

These  modern  apologists  for  Machiavellianism 
urge  that  as  other  countries  do  things  they  ought 
not  to  do,  their  own  must  follow  suit  in  order  to 
protect  itself;  that  is  to  say,  if  you  are  so  unfor- 
tunate as  to  live  among  robbers,  you  too  must  rob 
or — "get  left."  Waiving  the  indisputable  immor- 
ality of  such  conduct,  has  not  experience  proved 
that  it  is  the  negatively  good  man  who  suffers? — the 
man  whom  it  rather  grieves  to  do  evil  and  who  yet 


60  WORLD  POLITICS. 

tries  to  imitate  unscrupulous  associates  so  as  to 
keep  level  with  them,  possibly  in  the  hope  of  out- 
reaching  them  while  preserving  his  own  morality. 
It  was  to  him  that  the  "  voice  as  the  sound  of  many 
waters"  said,  "Because  thou  art  lukewarm,  and 
neither  cold  nor  hot,  I  will  spue  thee  out  of  my 
mouth." 

Ask  the  average  person.  If  you  lived  among  rob- 
bers, would  you  rob?  Merely  because  you  saw 
robbery  going  on  around  you,  would  it  be  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  all  men  were  not  only  robbers, 
but  that  they  all  wanted  to  be  robbers?  Would  not 
a  bold  declaration  of  principles  on  your  part,  and 
strict  adherence  to  those  principles  by  you,  so 
greatly  astonish  some  of  your  neighbours  as  to 
shock  or  inspire  them  into  following  your  exam- 
ple? Would  you  not  in  any  case  gather  around 
yourself  those  who  did  not  want  to  rob,  and  in 
this  way  change  the  character  of  the  community 
from  "all  goats"  into  "goats  and  some  sheep"? 
The  average  person  knows  that  if  you  cannot  at 
once  transform,  you  may  leaven.  How,  otherwise, 
is  progress  possible? 

Ask  a  nation  if  it  would  join  in  the  spoliation  of 
a  friendly  power  because  a  combination  of  other 
powers  threatened  to  treat  it  in  the  same  way  if  it 
refused  to  further  the  transaction.  There  are  but 
few  countries  that  would  not  resent  such  a  pro- 


PRINCIPLES  OF  NATWNAL  CONDUCT.       61 

posal,  preferring  to  take  the  consequences  of  re- 
fusal, whatever  they  might  be. 

Of  course,  if  a  nation  is  constitutionally  and  in- 
curably dishonest,  and  does  not  pretend  to  be 
anything  else,  it  can  only  follow  a  career  of  scoun- 
drelism,  and  may  meet  with  considerable  success 
for  a  time,  though  its  end  is  sure.  It  would  be 
difficult,  however,  to  imagine  a  nation  deliberately 
classifying  itself  under -this  head;  and  if  there  are 
still  some  countries,  behind  the  rest  in  civilization, 
where  Machiavellianism  receives  the  cachet  of  the 
Government,  it  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  the 
religion  of  the  multitude. 


CHAPTEE  VII. 

The  Promise  of  Eecent  Practice. 

The  better  practice  of  the  more  civilized  com- 
munities already  speaks  for  itself,  containing  the 
promise  of  a  high  moral  development  in  the  fu- 
ture, based  upon  the  principle  of  interdependence. 

The  practice  of  the  United  Kingdom,  for  exam- 
ple, may  not  have  been  undeviating;  her  Govern- 
ments may  not  always  have  supported  her  claim; 
but  that  claim  has  been  that  she  stands  among 
nations  as  an  upholder  of  justice  and  freedom,  as  a 
protector  of  the  down- trodden  and  oppressed,  and  as 

"A  safeguard,  a  sheltering  land, 
In  the  thunder  and  torrent  of  years." 

This  claim,  irrespective  of  practice,  is  a  tacit 
recognition  of  the  duties  in  question,  even  if  the 
principle  of  interdependence,  upon  which  these 
duties  are  based,  has  only  been  appreciated  by  the 
thinking  minority.  Nor  can  the  practice  be  con- 
demned as  wholly  unworthy  of  the  claim,  for  Great 
Britain  has  shown  herself  capable  of  being  swayed 
by  magnificent  emotions  and  of  doing  most  gener- 
ous deeds. 


T^HE  PROMISE  OF  RECENT  PRACTICE.       63 

It  was  she  who  first  abolished  the  Slave  Trade, 
afterward  liberating  the  slaves  in  her  colonies  and 
dependencies,  compensating  their  owners  for  the 
loss.  It  was  she  who  gave  right  of  asylum  in  the 
face  of  an  almost  united  Europe.  Ever  since  1824 
she  has  done  her  utmost  to  help  the  cause  of  Greek 
independence,  in  spite  of  its  having  been  her  "  pol- 
icy" to  save  the  Ottoman  Empire  from  disintegra- 
tion. Belgium  could  hardly  have  secured  her 
independence  without  Great  Britain's  help.  In 
Spain  and  Portugal  constitutional  government 
found  in  her  its  warmest  supporter  as  against  the 
absolutism  of  the  "  Holy  Alliance. "  Her  sympa- 
thy with  the  Italian  provinces  in  their  efforts  to 
regain  their  freedom  and  form  a  united  country 
will  not  soon  be  forgotten  by  Italy.  The  cause  of 
Hungary  aroused  the  greatest  enthusiasm,  and  all 
political  parties  combined  to  welcome  Kossuth. 
Great  Britain  admittedly  regretted  not  having  per- 
sisted in  her  intervention  on  behalf  of  the  Poles  in 
1863 ;  and,  rightly  or  wrongly,  the  indignation  of 
her  people  knew  no  bounds  at  the  inaction  of  the 
Government  in  failing  to  support  Denmark  in  the 
following  year.  The  massacres  by  the  Druses  at 
Beyrout  and  Damascus  resulted  in  her  active  in- 
tervention. Barely  has  such  a  storm  of  indigna- 
tion been  aroused  in  any  country  as  that  evoked  in 
Great  Britain  by  the  Bulgarian  atrocities  of  1875 


64  WORLD  POLITICS. 

and  1876.  Her  more  recent  action  in  regard  to 
Armenia  and  Crete,  much  criticised  as  it  has  been, 
particularly  by  her  own  people,  was  at  least  an  at- 
tempt to  pursue  the  same  generous  course.  Her 
attitude  in  the  Cuban  question  was  by  no  means 
entirely  based  upon  her  friendship  for  the  United 
States,  for  no  British  Government  would  dare 
take  action  against  any  people  struggling  for  their 
freedom,  once  they  were  known  to  be  oppressed. 
The  great  mass  of  her  population  would  ignore 
every  question  of  policy  in  dealing  with  a  matter 
of  that  sort. 

Over  and  over  again  Great  Britain  has  made  it 
her  business  to  see  that  justice  was  done,  that  free- 
dom was  upheld,  that  the  oppressed  were  protected, 
that  order  was  maintained,  that  constitutionalism 
was  recognized.  She  has  committed  herself  be- 
yond any  question  to  the  principle  of  interdepen- 
dence, admitting  that  what  injured  another  injured 
her  and  all  others,  and  that  she  had  duties  to  per- 
form even  before  she  had  rights  to  sustain. 

If  the  United  States  of  America  has  made  fewer 
assertions  in  this  respect  than  Great  Britain,  and 
if  the  necessities  of  internal  development  have 
absorbed  her  attention  until  recently,  she  has 
nevertheless  shown  the  same  spirit  and  has  made 
considerable  sacrifices  in  order  to  do  what  she 
conceived  to  be  her  duty  in  relation  to  the  welfare 


THE  PROMISE  OF  RECENT  PRACTICE.       65 

of  others.  Whatever  may  be  said  by  hostile  crit- 
ics in  regard  to  her  war  with  Spain — that  it  was  a 
politicians'  war,  and  so  forth — those  who  know  the 
facts  know  that  it  was  the  people  of  the  United 
States  who  insisted  upon  its  being  waged,  and  that 
they  did  this,  not  from  any  selfish  motive  such  as 
the  acquisition  of  Cuba,  but  because  of  their  pro- 
found sympathy  for  the  insurgents  and  because 
of  their  horror  and  indignation  at  the  reports 
which  reached  them  of  the  treatment  to  which 
the  reconcentrados  were  subjected  by  the  Spanish 
officials. 

"When  the  modern  friends  of  Spain  in  the 
United  States  jeeringly  ask  why  we  should  trouble 
ourselves  about  the  Cubans  or  Armenians  or  Cre- 
tans, and  go  so  far  afield  with  our  sympathies,  they 
fail  to  remember  the  history  of  their  own  country. 
They  forget  the  Congress  which,  stirred  by  the 
splendor  of  Webster's  eloquence,  sent  words  of 
encouragement  to  the  Greeks.  They  forget  whose 
sympathies  went  far  across  the  waters  to  the  Hun- 
garians, and  who  were  the  people  who  brought 
Kossuth  to  safety  in  one  of  their  own  men-of-war. 
.  .  .  Sympathy  for  men  fighting  for  freedom  any- 
where is  distinctively  American,  and  when  from  fear 
or  greed  or  from  absorption  in  merely  material 
things  we  despise  and  abandon  it,  we  shall  not  only 

deny  our  history  and  our  birthright,  but  our  faith 
5 


66  WORLD  POLITICS. 

in  our  own  Kepublic,  and  all  we  most  cherish  will 
fade  and  grow  dim."  ' 

The  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land and  the  United  States  of  America  by  no  means 
stand  alone  in  their  practical  recognition  of  the 
duties  arising  from  the  interdependence  of  nations ; 
and  so  general  has  this  recognition  become,  on  the 
part  of  the  civilized  Powers,  that  international 
law,  based  according  to  most  of  its  exponents  upon 
custom  only,  takes  full  cognizance  of  these  duties 
and  devotes  much  attention  to  their  definition. 

It  has  been  shown  already  that  it  is  postulated 
by  Hall  and  other  writers  that  independent  states 
have  a  "moral  nature,"  and  as  such  are  "under 
obligations"  and  have  duties  to  perform.  The  in- 
dividual," says  Bluntschli,  "does  not  completely 
satisfy  the  call  of  moral  duty  if  he  merely  does 
what  is  right  within  his  own  sphere  of  activity, 
without  offering  a  hand  to  others  who  need  it  to 
do  right  in  their  sphere :  and  just  as  little  does  a 
state  entirely  fulfil  its  task  if  it  acts  justly  in  its 
own  dominions,  but  declines  to  give  to  other  states 
the  help  of  which  they  are  in  want."  ' 

1  Certain  Accepted  Heroes  and  Other  Essays,  by  Henry  Cabot 
Lodge  (Republican  Senator  from  Massachusetts;  ;  art.,  "Our 
Foreign  Policy. "  The  views  on  the  same  subject  of  Mr. 
Richard  Olney,  Democratic  Secretary  of  State  during  Mr. 
Cleveland's  second  administration,  will  be  found  in  Note  D. 

^  Staatsworterbuch,  i,  501,  quoted  by  Hall, 


THE  PROMISE  OF  RECENT  PRACTICE.       67 

Interdependence  is  again  admitted  in  the  rule 
that  a  "  treaty  is  not  binding  which  has  for  its  ob- 
ject the  subjugation  or  partition  of  a  country,  un- 
less the  existence  of  the  latter  is  wholly  incompat- 
ible with  the  general  security ;  and  an  agreement 
for  the  assertion  of  proprietary  rights  over  the 
open  ocean  would  be  invalid,  because  the  freedom 
of  the  open  seas  from  appropriation,  though  an 
arbitrary  principle,  is  one  that  is  fully  received 
into  international  law.  ...  A  compact  for  the 
establishment  of  a  slave  trade  would  be  void,  be- 
cause the  personal  freedom  of  human  beings  has 
been  admitted  by  modern  civilized  states  as  a  right 
which  they  are  bound  to  respect  and  which  they 
ought  to  uphold  internationally."  ^ 

"Merely  the  opening  of  water-ways  now  renders 
intercourse  among  the  nations  practically  unavoid- 
able ;  and  civilized  or  uncivilized,  willingly  or  un- 
willingly, they  will  all  have  to  enter  into  more  or 
less  close  relations  with  one  another.  Just  how 
close  those  relations  should  be,  international  law 
does  not  prescribe,  for  it  is  reluctant  to  derogate 
from  the  privileges  of  sovereignty.  It  does,  how- 
ever, enjoin  on  the  nations  the  duties  of  comity 
and  humanity,  and  when  they  enter  into  closer  re- 
lations it  provides  rules  to  be  observed  not  only  in 
establishing  them,  but  in  maintaining  them,  or  in 

*  A  Treatise  on  International  Law,  by  W.  E.  Hall,  §  108. 


68  WORLD  POLITICS. 

breaking  them  off.  Specific  rules  it  does  not  fur- 
nish to  meet  every  case ;  but,  when  they  are  want- 
ing, it  has  general  rules  that  apply,  including  those 
that  recommend  justice  and  morality."  ^ 

That  a  diplomatic  agent  "should  exert  his  influ- 
ence during  a  period  of  war  or  of  grave  disorder 
to  protect  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  friendly  na- 
tions and  their  property" ;  that  he  may  "  interpose 
his  good  offices  even  in  behalf  of  natives  of  the 
country  in  which  he  acts,  if  they  are  threatened 
with,  or  subjected  to,  treatment  inconsistent  with 
the  principles  of  humanity" ;  that  "  a  nation  may 
refuse  to  be  bound  by  a  treaty  stipulating  that  it 
should  perform  an  unlawful  or  immoral  or  a  crimi- 
nal act,  and  other  nations  may  interfere  to  prevent 
it  from  being  committed  or  m.Si,j  properly  protest 
against  it  if  it  has  already  been  committed" ;  that 
a  nation  may  mediate  to  prevent  war,  may  inter- 
vene to  "suppress  crime  of  governments  against 
their  peoples,  or  to  stop  a  nefarious  action  on  the 
part  of  a  strong  power  against  a  weaker  one," '  or 
for  other  cause — all  proves  that  nations  have  moral 
duties  to  perform  toward  each  other,  that  they  rec- 
ognize the  fact,  and  that  in  so  doing  they  recog- 
nize the  fundamental  principle  of  interdependence. 

1  International  Law,  by  H.  W.  Bowen,  §  33. 

2  Bowen,  §§  62,  109,  130,  219. 


CHAPTEE  Vm. 

The  Lessons  of  the  Centueies. 

The  recognition  of  international  duties  has  been 
rapidly  increasing  during  the  present  century.  It 
would  almost  seem  that  every  century  has  its  dis- 
tinct lesson  for  the  leading  nations  of  the  world, 
and  that  these  lessons  are  progressive,  as  it  were, 
originating  in  the  minds  of  men,  often  in  modifica- 
tions of  their  religious  beliefs,  and  then  finding 
expression  in  the  internal  affairs  of  states,  finally 
in  international  affairs.  The  appreciation  of  in- 
dividual and  national  Eights  came  about  in  this 
way :  first,  in  the  proclamation  that  man  had  the 
inalienable  right  to  think  for  himself  in  religious 
matters — in  other  words,  that  he  had  the  right  to 
govern  his  own  mind.  As  a  logical  application  of 
this  principle  came  the  declaration  that  communi- 
ties had  the  right  to  govern  themselves ;  and  only 
as  people  came  to  accept  the  first  lesson  did  they 
accept  and  insist  upon  the  second.  Finally,  the 
same  principle  was  applied  internationally,  and  for 
long  the  Eights  of  Nations  absorbed  the  attention  of 


70  WORLD  POLITIC$. 

the  civilized  world — were  fought  for,  just  as  men  had 
fought  for  their  individual  and  collective  rights. 

Between  each  stage  in  the  progressive  march  of 
the  idea,  between  each  wider  application  of  the 
principle,  came  reactionary  stages,  so  that  pro- 
gress was  frequently  interrupted,  the  general  ad- 
vance being  comparable  to  a  rising  tide,  its  steady 
forward  movement  being  sometimes  lost  sight  of  in 
the  backward  and  forward  wash  of  its  waves.  Thus 
the  American  Colonies  were  opposed  to  the  English 
Government  on  the  same  grounds,  roughly  speak- 
ing, as  those  on  which  the  people  of  England  op- 
posed the  unfortunate  King  Charles;  but  in  the 
second  event  it  took  a  very  short  time  for  the  fact 
to  be  recognized  that  the  American  Colonies  had 
been  perfectly  right  in  their  stand. 

At  the  very  time  that  the  Eights  of  Nations  were 
being  most  vigorously  asserted,  another  and  more 
inspiring  idea  was  being  proclaimed  by  men  of 
every  sect  as  of  no  sect.  This  was  the  recognition 
of  the  Duties  man  owes  to  himself  and  his  fellows  as 
being  of  more  importance  than  a  mere  insistance 
upon  his  Bights.  On  all  sides,  in  every  department 
of  life,  it  came  to  be  seen  by  many  that  a  full  and 
faithful  performance  by  individuals  of  these  duties 
would  solve  more  of  the  world's  problems  than  a 
perpetual  claiming  of  prerogatives.  The  idea  be- 
gan to  influence  governments  in  their  attitude  to- 


THE  LESSONS   OF  THE  CENTURIES.  71 

ward  the  governed,  and  the  next  expression  taken 
by  this  great  conception  of  duty  was  legislative ; — 
Factory  Acts,  Usury  Acts,  and  every  conceivable 
sort  of  an  Act  designed  to  protect  and  promote  the 
well-being  of  rich  and  poor  alike,  followed  each 
other  in  quick  succession. 

Side  by  side  with  this  development,  the  same 
principle  came  to  be  applied  in  international  mat- 
ters, not  only  by  Great  Britain  and  by  the  United 
States,  but  by  all  the  more  highly  civilized  na- 
tions, until  the  elementary  duties  they  owe  to  each 
other  have  been  defined  in  treaties  and  have  been 
incorporated  in  statements  of  international  custom. 
And  while  individuals  at  first,  and  then  nations,  for- 
merly co-operated  in  order  to  enforce  their  Rights, 
individuals  have  now  learned  to  co-operate  in  order 
to  fulfil  their  Duties,  the  last  extension  of  the  idea 
being  the  co-operation  of  nations  for  the  same  en- 
nobling object — interdependence  enlarging  the  out- 
look of  independence  and  saving  it  from  the  mad 
extreme  of  isolation. 

Not  for  self  only,  but  with  due  regard  for  the 
welfare  of  others :  nothing  lower  than  this  can  be 
a  worthy  aim  for  a  civilized  community.  Such  an 
aim  would  not  merely  enable  it  to  keep  pace  with 
the  "  ethical  process"  in  evolution,  but  would  give 
its  deeds  a  loftiness  of  purpose  and  a  power  that 
the  policies  of  the  past  have  failed  to  give  them. 


72  WORLD  POLITICS. 

Writing  in  1852,  Mazzini  said  that  "  since  1815 
there  has  been  a  great  want  in  Europe — the  initia- 
tive has  disappeared;  it  belongs  to  no  country  at 
the  present  time.  .  .  .  Europe  is  in  search  of  it ;  no 
one  knows  yet  by  which  people  it  will  be  seized."  * 

That  initiative  is  still  lacking,  for  although  the 
last  century  produced  more  than  one  Declaration 
of  Rights  (as  Mazzini  observed),  this  century  has 
not  yet  produced  a  Declaration  of  Principles ;  and 
until  such  a  declaration  of  principles  is  formulated, 
and  so  long  as  the  prevailing  recognition  of  certain 
duties,  satisfactory  though  it  is,  remains  as  vague 
and  casual  as  at  present,  it  can  fall  to  the  lot  of  no 
nation  to  seize  the  initiative  and  become  the  leader 
of  the  world's  advance. 

Rapid  strides  have  been  made,  however,  since 
1852.  In  the  womb  of  Nature  many  things  are 
hidden,  awaiting  the  hour  of  their  deliverance, 
gaining  strength,  unseen,  in  the  darkness,  that 
they  may  be  strong  in  the  light.  And  in  the  womb 
of  the  world's  experience  has  been  growing  a  pos- 
session beyond  all  price — the  new  inspiration  for 
the  birth  of  which  the  nations  have  long  been  wait- 
ing. But  like  a  woman,  waiting  for  the  birth  of 
her  first-born,  not  realizing  as  yet  what  a  blessing 
she  carries  with  her,  bringing  as  it  will  a  new  in- 
itiative into  her  life,  a  new  hope  into  her  heart,  so 
'  Essays,  "  Europe  :  Its  Condition, "  by  Joseph  Mazzini. 


THE  LESSONS  OF  THE  CENTURIES.  73 

the  nations  have  not  yet  grasped  the  full  signifi- 
cance of  this  that  waits  within  them  for  expression, 
giving  them  as  it  will,  a  new  aspiration,  a  new  aim 
for  their  existence,  a  new  and  much-needed  impetus. 
A  clear  declaration  of  principles  b^v  one  or  more 
nations,  and  a  single  practical  application  of  these 
principles  to  existing  difficulties — and  the  inter- 
national lesson  of  the  nineteenth  century  will  have 
been  learned,  the  work  of  the  twentieth  begun/ 
*  See  Note  E.,  on  "  Christianity. " 


part  Ubfr&. 
PARTICULAR   CONSIDERATIONS. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

A  Test  of  Progress. 

Once  the  interdependence  of  nations  is  recog- 
nized, and  it  is  seen  that  injury  to  one  involves  in- 
jury to  others,  that  the  welfare  of  one  affects  others 
beneficially,  and  that  they  owe  each  other  duties  as 
well  as  having  rights,  it  only  remains  to  decide 
what  should  be  the  first  positive,  practical  appli- 
cation of  these  principles  internationally,  as  a  log- 
ical continuation  of  the  tentative  applications  al- 
ready made. 

It  has  been  shown  in  a  previous  chapter  that  the 
growth  of  nations  is  governed  by  the  same  laws 
that  govern  the  growth  of  individuals,  and  that 
a  nation  and  an  individual  follow  the  same  path 
in  their  development.  Consequently,  in  order  to 
discover  this  next  practical  step  —  to  be  taken 
consciously,  let  us  hope,  with  a  full  understanding 
of  the  principle  or  law  upon  which  it  is  based — 
it  will  be  necessary  to  follow  the  stages  by  which 
men  have  come  to  express  in  concerted  action, 
slowly  but  surely  and  as  the  result  of  increasing 


78  WORLD  POLITICS. 

experience,  their  appreciation  of  the  interdepend- 
ence of  a  community  of  individuals,  of  the  duties 
they  owe  to  each  other,  and  of  their  underlying 
unity  of  interest.  Having  arrived  at  this  process, 
the  results  can  be  compared  with  what  is  known 
of  the  lives  of  nations,  and  it  can  then  be  decided 
whether  nations  are  as  far  advanced  in  practice  as 
individuals,  and  if  not,  what  is  the  next  step  to  be 
taken  in  their  development. 

It  has  been  suggested  already  that  man's  in- 
creasing sense  of  responsibility  to  his  fellows  has 
found  expression  in  legislation,  based  upon  the 
principle  of  interdependence.  For  many  years 
past  the  great  legal  doctrine  has  been  universally 
accepted,  that  a  wrong  done  to  any  member  of  the 
community  is  a  wrong  done  to  the  community  itself, 
and  so  to  the  king  or  governing  power  as  its  head. 
This  doctrine  has  more  recently  been  interpreted 
so  as  to  include  the  idea  that  what  benefits  the 
individual  benefits  the  state — the  positive  applica- 
tion of  the  negative  rule.  Hence,  legislation  has 
been  much  concerned,  not  only  with  the  protec- 
tion of  all  classes,  but  with  the  improvement  of 
the  conditions  in  which  they  live  and  labour,  with 
their  education,  health,  and  so  forth. 

It  is  said  to  be  the  object  of  law  to  "  define  and 
protect  the  rights  of  persons  and  to  defend  .the  in- 
dividual liberties  of  all" — a  sufficiently   compre- 


A   TEST  OF  PROGRESS.  79 

hensive  and  elastic  statement  of  its  aims,  for  so 
much  depends  upon  the  definition  of  a  person's 
"rights."  One  hundred  years  ago  it  would  never 
have  been  admitted  that  a  factory  hand  had  a  right 
to  work  in  sanitary  conditions,  or  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  a  government  to  see  that  such  conditions 
were  provided.  Only  when  it  came  to  be  seen  that 
it  would  benefit  the  nation  as  a  whole  if  he  were 
protected  in  this  way,  and  that  he  had  a  moral 
right  to  the  protection,  was  this  right  embodied  in 
law ;  for  it  is  the  aim  of  law  to  make,  so  far  as  it 
can,  a  moral  right  a  legal  right. 

In  the  same  way  it  is  the  aim  of  law  to  make  a 
moral  duty  a  legal  duty,  which  would  naturally 
follow  from  the  fact  that  wherever  one  person  has 
a  right,  another  has  a  duty  in  relation  to  that  per- 
son. Thus,  if  a  wife  has  a  right  to  the  support  of 
her  husband,  it  is  the  duty  of  her  husband  to  sup- 
port her ;  if  a  factory  hand  has  a  right  to  work  in 
sanitary  conditions,  his  employer  has  the  duty  of 
providing  them. 

Such  considerations  make  it  abundantly  evident 
that  the  laws  of  a  nation  at  any  one  time  are  a 
faithful  representation  of  its  collective  moral  sense 
and  of  its  appreciation  of  general  laws,  though 
here,  as  elsewhere,  action  follows  thought,  and  it 
takes  time  for  action  to  modify  form.  Growth  of 
the  moral  perceptions,  however,  invariably  pro- 


80  WORLD  POLITICS. 

duces  a  corresponding  development  in  the  laws  of 
the  land,  this  being  true,  not  only  of  self-govern- 
ing communities,  but  of  nations  governed  despoti- 
cally, as  of  nations  controlled  by  custom  and  prec- 
edent whether  embodied  in  laws  or  not.  In  every 
case,  any  improvement  in  the  general  sense  of 
justice,  of  responsibility,  any  increase  in  the  gen- 
eral understanding  of  interdependence,  is  certain 
to  result  in  a  corresponding  change  in  the  prevail- 
ing laws. 

"Our  human  laws,"  said  Froude,  "are  but  the 
copies,  more  or  less  imperfect,  of  the  eternal  laws, 
so  far  as  we  can  read  them."  And  as  fast  as  men 
read  the  eternal  laws  of  nature,  as  their  under- 
standing of  utility  broadens,  and  as  they  perceive 
more  and  more  clearly  that  the  truly  moral  is  the 
truly  useful,  and  vice  versa,  they  give  expression, 
in  the  form  of  law,  to  their  mental  and  moral 
growth.  It  would  be  as  unwise  for  them  not  to 
do  this  as  it  would  be  unwise  for  them  deliberately 
to  violate  any  other  law  of  nature,  once  they  recog- 
nize its  existence. 

Individuals,  acting  collectively  through  their 
representatives,  legislate  for  their  mutual  protec- 
tion and  for  the  general  benefit  of  the  community. 
Nations  do  not  legislate  in  their  collective  capac- 
ity, and  it  would  therefore  seem  that  nations  are 
debarred  from  expressing  their  growing  recogni- 


A   TEST  OF  PROGRESS.  81 

tion  of  interdependence  in  the  same  way  as  individ- 
uals. But  it  should  be  remembered  that  it  is  only 
within  comparatively  recent  times  that  individuals 
have  had  legislative  power.  They,  of  their  own 
volition,  could  not  always  give  direct  legal  expres- 
sion to  their  moral  perceptions.  Representative 
government  is  a  modern  development,  and  it  took 
centuries  for  law  to  become  what  it  now  is. 

Although  nations  do  not  legislate  as  among 
themselves,  what  is  called  "  International  Law"  is 
a  recognized  factor  in  governing  the  relations  of 
states.  It  is  therefore  important  to  determine  in 
what  respects  International  Law  corresponds  to 
municipal  or  state  law. 

According  to  Hall,  it  is  comparable  in  many  re- 
spects with  the  condition  of  the  law  "  when  the  early 
Teutonic  societies  allowed  a  person,  upon  whom  a 
certain  kind  of  legal  injury  had  been  inflicted,  to 
seize  the  cattle  of  the  wrong-doer  and  keep  them 
till  he  obtained  satisfaction,  or  when  they  told  him 
to  refer  a  quarrel  involving  legal  questions  to  the 
issue  of  trial  by  combat.  ..."  International  Law 
is  like  the  state  law  of  that  early  period  inasmuch 
as  it  has  not  been  enacted  and  merely  consists  of  a 
record  of  precedents,  sometimes  good  and  some- 
times bad,  which  are  followed  in  much  the  same 
way  as  precedents  in  social  etiquette  are  followed. 
The  term  "  law"  is  an  entire  misnomer  for  such  a 


82  WORLD  POLITICS. 

code,  for  no  country  can  be  said  to  be  governed 
by  law  unless  means  are  provided  for  its  enforce- 
ment. Individuals  sometimes  use  force  to  punish 
a  breach  of  etiquette,  but  procedure  of  that  kind 
can  hardly  be  dignified  by  comparison  vrith  ju- 
dicial methods.  Early  Teutonic  law  was  occasion- 
ally enforced  in  much  the  same  way :  like  modern 
International  Law,  it  consisted  largely  of  rules 
regulating  trial  by  combat,  ultimately  classified 
by  some  contemporary  Marquis  of  Queensberry, 
with  stipulations  in  regard  to  the  correct  behaviour 
of  neutral  bystanders.  Hardly  a  satisfactory  state 
of  affairs. 

If  this  be  conceded,  and  if  it  be  further  conceded 
that  the  moral  and  utilitarian  perceptions  of  the 
individuals  composing  the  civilized  nations  are  no 
longer  represented  fairly  by  laws  of  that  order, 
it  will  be  well  to  determine  (a)  how  the  Teutonic 
laws  originated,  and  (b)  through  what  stages  they 
passed  before  reaching  th6  high  standard  of  our 
present  legal  systems;  for  jUst  as  the  growth  of 
nations  is  governed  by  the  same  natural  laws  as 
those  governing  the  growth  of  individuals,  so  in- 
ternational law  must  have  been  derived  in  the  same 
way  as  state  law,  and  its  development,  in  the  past 
as  in  the  future,  must  be  subject  to  the  same  gen- 
eral laws  as  those  controlling  the  growth  of  state 
law.     In  this  way  it  will  be  possible  to  determine 


A  TEST  OF  PROGRESS.  83 

the  next  step  that  international  law  should  take  in 
its  evolution— that  it  must  take,  seeing  that  evolu- 
tion is  universal  in  nature,  and  seeing  also  that  in 
this  case  the  process  of  growth  of  an  exactly  simi- 
lar thing  is  known  already. 

It  is  strange  that  while  millions  of  people  in  all 
parts  of  the  world  have  been  deeply  interested  for 
years  in  the  development  of  state  law,  every  act  of 
a  state  legislature  being  narrowly  watched,  only  a 
small  proportion  of  that  number  have  shown  in- 
terest in  the  condition  of  international  law  until 
quite  lately.  Every  one  would  admit  that  for  a 
man  to  care  nothing  for  laws  involving  his  coun- 
try as  a  whole,  while  deeply  concerning  himself 
in  the  administration  of  his  own  city,  would  be 
strong  evidence  of  his  narrow-mindedness.  The 
larger  laws  affect  him  quite  as  much  as  those  ob- 
taining locally.  Yet  those  who  take  an  interest  in 
the  law  and  legislation  of  their  own  nation,  and 
who  yet  know  nothing  and  care  as  little  for  the 
larger  international  law,  are  equally  narrow  in  their 
outlook.  Fortunately,  this  too  is  coming  to  be 
generally  admitted. 


CHAPTEK  X. 

The  Evolution  of  State  Law. 

The  actual  origin  of  law  is  a  moot  point,  though 
the  later  stages  of  its  evolution  have  been  very 
clearly  established.  Most  modern  authorities  on 
the  subject  begin  by  postulating  the  existence  of 
primitive  man,  whom  they  proceed  to  endow  with 
certain  characteristics.  But  the  trouble  is  that  no 
one  knows  anything  about  him,  and  to  dogmatize 
about  a  postulate  is  certainly  foolish.  Most  of 
the  savage  races  of  to-day  are  at  least  as  likely  to 
be  degenerate  survivals  of  otherwise  extinct  races, 
as  to  be  primitive  people  on  the  ascendant  arc  of 
evolution.  As  far  back  as  history  has  anything  to 
report,  it  tells  of  high  civilization,  in  Central  and 
Southern  America,  in  Asia  and  elsewhere.  Hence 
there  is  need  for  caution  in  accepting  hypothetical 
explanations  of  the  genesis  of  legal  and  similar  in- 
stitutions. It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  accord- 
ing to  the  theory  of  evolution,  as  expounded  by 
Herbert  Spencer,  Professor  Huxley,  and  others,  as 
also  according  to  its  earlier  Greek  and  Hindu  ex- 


J 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  STATE  LAW.  85 

ponents,  "  evolution  must  reach  a  limit,  after  which 
a  reverse  change  must  begin, "  involution  or  absorp- 
tion following  evolution,  and  evolution,  involution ; 
these  processes  following  each  other  alternately. 

So  it  is  not  easy  to  deal  with  the  origin  of  law 
in  an  entirely  orthodox  manner.  Any  view  con- 
cerning it  must  remain  hypothetical,  owing  to  the 
uncertainty  regarding  man's  primitive  condition. 
Nor  is  it  by  any  means  a  vital  point  in  connection 
with  the  present  inquiry,  which  is  dependent  only 
upon  the  later  and  well-ascertained  stages  in  the 
evolution  of  human  law.  One  may  speculate  use- 
fully, and  this  is  the  speculation  generally  in- 
dulged in: 

Taking  the  savage  of  to-day  as  a  clue  to  the 
character  of  primitive  man,  it  is  seen  that  between 
him  and  civilized  man  there  is  a  very  considerable 
gulf  where  action  is  concerned,  though  both  are 
subject  to  much  the  same  loves  and  hates,  jeal- 
ousies and  ambitions,  hopes  and  fears.  When  the 
uncivilized  man  has  a  quarrel  with  his  neighbour 
he  adopts  the  handy  but  barbaric  expedient  of 
hitting  him  over  the  head  with  a  club,  and  so  puts 
an  end  to  the  quarrel  by  putting  an  end  to  the 
neighbour.  He  may  go  so  far  as  to  include  his 
neighbour's  wife  and  family  in  what  he  deems  a 
necessary  removal  of  impediments ;  and  this,  from 
that  point  of  view,  is  often  judicious,  if  immoral, 


86  WORLD  POLITICS. 

for  the  reason  that  a  desire  for  revenge  comes  nat- 
urally to  uncivilized  man,  and  the  biter  is  apt  to 
be  badly  bitten  in  his  turn. 

Whatever  may  be  the  desires  of  civilized  man, 
he  does  not  usually  hit  his  neighbour  over  the  head 
when  he  quarrels  with  him,  because,  among  other 
and  possibly  better  reasons,  he  knows  that  such  a 
proceeding  would  seriously  endanger  his  own  life. 
Even  supposing  that  other  neighbours  do  not  step 
in  to  prevent  such  a  summary  disposal  of  the  case, 
the  minions  of  the  law,  whom  he  helps  to  support 
by  the  payment  of  taxes,  would  almost  inevitably 
bring  him  to  justice.  So  he  is  likely  to  settle  his 
dispute  by  a  voluntary  appeal  to  the  law  in  the  first 
place,  instead  of  allowing  the  law  to  settle  him, 
irrespective  of  his  own  volition. 

This  more  peaceful  method  of  procedure  has  re- 
sulted from  a  very  long  experience,  in  the  course 
of  which  it  was  learned  that  a  breach  of  the  peace 
by  two  people  was  more  than  likely  to  lead  to  a 
breach  of  the  peace  by  many,  and  that,  apart  from 
the  sanctity  of  human  life  which  also  came  to  be 
admitted,  it  was  for  the  best  interest  of  all  con- 
cerned to  insist  upon  the  preservation  of  order, 
even  at  some  sacrifice  of  personal  liberty  of  action, 
by  the  enactment  of  laws,  mutually  agreed  upon  oi 
formulated  by  rulers,  and  by  the  appointment  of 
guardians  of  the  law  to  see  that  it  was  properly 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  STATE  LAW.  87 

administered  and  enforced.     But  centuries  passed 
before  this  conclusion  was  reached. 

First — following  tlie  generally  accepted  theory — 
as  uncivilized  man  was  brought  into  closer  touch 
with  his  fellows,  brawls  became  more  frequent, 
and  the  lives  of  others  being  consequently  en- 
dangered, bystanders,  objecting  to  their  own  pro- 
miscuous slaughter,  supported  some  tribal  priest 
or  chieftain  in  forcible  interference,  who,  while 
sometimes  dispensing  justice,  would  almost  as 
frequently  confine  himself  to  giving  a  decision. 
Thus,  if  the  possession  of  some  animal,  killed  in 
the  chase,  were  in  dispute,  one  disputant  was  li- 
able to  get  the  head  and  the  other  the  tail,  while 
the  arbiter  took  the  rest :  perhaps  as  his  commis- 
sion. This  apparently  unjust  verdict  might  well 
have  been  defended  on  the  ground  that  if  either  dis- 
putant got  the  trunk,  the  other  would  reject  the 
decision  and  would  revert  to  his  club  to  see  that 
justice  was  done;  hence,  from  that  point  of  view, 
it  became  the  positive  duty  of  the  priest  or  chief- 
tain to  see  that  neither  disputant  got  anything 
worth  having.  Still,  there  were  of  course  excep- 
tions to  the  rule,  and  equitable  decisions  must 
have  been  given  deliberately  as  well  as  accident- 
ally. Priests  and  chieftains  were  probably  not 
accustomed  to  exercise  much  discrimination  in 
regard  to  facts,  and  as  there  were  no  laws  and  at 


88  WORLD  POLITICS. 

first  very  few  customs  to  go  by,  they  could  only  do 
their  best  and  take  the  consequences. 

Forcible  intervention  did  not  by  any  means  put 
an  end  to  fighting  between  individuals.  In  the 
course  of  time,  however,  a  rough  sense  of  honour 
was  developed,  putting  some  restraint  upon  com- 
batants, and  obliging  them  to  give  notice  of  their 
intention  to  fight.  As  the  appreciation  of  right 
gradually  improved,  and  as  experience  proved  that 
fair  play  was  desirable  and  benefited  all  parties, 
certain  positive  rules  were  evolved,  such  as  the 
early  rules  of  Chivalry  and  Knighthood,  regulat- 
ing combats,  and,  though  unwritten,  were  well  de- 
fined and  widely  observed  among  the  better  class 
of  the  community. 

Meanwhile  forcible  intervention  still  continued, 
capricious  and  irresponsible  as  it  must  often  have 
been,  whether  undertaken  by  king,  chieftain,  or 
priest.  For  these  various  stages  overlap  each 
other,  and  while  that  which  constitutes  one  stage 
is  developing  still  higher  modes  of  expression,  the 
germs  of  the  next  stage  already  exist  and  are  rap- 
idly gaining  strength.  Early  types  invariably  per- 
sist after  new  ones  appear.  Modern  duelling  is  an 
example  of  this  law. 

As  time  passed,  custom  in  regard  to  the  tenure 
of  land  and  similar  matters  became  more  clearly 
defined.     The  decisions  of  former  chieftains,  re- 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  STATE  LAW.  89 

vered  as  having  been  just  men,  or  of  priests 
whose  holiness  and  learning  had  become  proverb- 
ial, formed  a  constantly  growing  body  of  prece- 
dent, influencing  decisions,  and,  in  the  case  of  minor 
disputes,  making  fresh  decisions  unnecessary,  as 
the  parties  at  issue  would  avoid  the  spoliation  so 
likely  to  result  from  intervention,  by  voluntarily 
accepting  these  earlier  judgments  as  applicable  to 
the  matter  in  dispute. 

In  consequence  of  the  increasing  population  and 
as  the  governing  power  became  more  centralized, 
owing  to  conquests  and  other  causes,  this  govern- 
ing power  found  it  necessary  to  appoint  umpires 
to  settle  disputes.  Men  came  to  have  a  money 
value,  and  instead  of  allowing  an*  injured  person 
or  his  friends  to  take  private  vengeance  for  the  in- 
jury, on  the  principle  of  "  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a 
tooth  for  a  tooth,"  the  umpires  would  fix  upon  a 
sum  of  money  as  compensation  for  the  injury, 
even  if  the  injury  had  proved  mortal,  in  which 
case  the  compensation  had  to  be  paid  to  the  fam- 
ily. This  was  the  unwritten  rule  in  Homeric 
Greece  as  in  Teutonic  England. 

Only  after  the  conversion  of  England  to  Chris- 
tianity was  the  right  to  bequeath  property  recog- 
nized, and  at  about  the  same  time  joint  or  cor- 
porate ownership  was  introduced.  Following 
this,  and  as  another  result  of  the  introduction  of 


90  WORLD  POLITICS. 

Christianity,  came  the  system  of  direct  appeal  to 
the  judgment  of  God  by  means  of  "  ordeals." 

Then,  still  considering  the  evolution  of  English 
law,  came  the  first  definite  formulation  of  laws 
in  writing,  by  (Ethelberht,  Oifa,  Ine,  later  by 
-Alfred,  JEthelston,  and  Eadmund.  These  were 
based  entirely  on  custom,  but  the  system  of  mutual 
responsibility  was  enlarged.  William  the  Con- 
queror modified  these  laws,  as,  for  instance,  in  the 
appeal  to  the  judgment  of  God,  the  English  ordeal 
and  the  Norman  wager  of  battle  being  alike  legal- 
ized and  regulated.  But  these  modifications  were 
mere  amplifications  of  previously  existing  customs. 

The  present  system  of  English  law  may  be  said 
to  have  taken  its  rise  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II. 
Even  then,  law  remained  a  simple  statement  or 
confirmation  of  custom.  Original  law-making,  in 
England,  was  a  much  later  development,  and  did 
not  really  occur  until,  based  upon  the  Saxon  notion 
of  crime  as  injury  to  the  commonwealth,  the  great 
legal  doctrine  came  to  be  formally  accepted,  that  a 
wrong  done  to  any  member  of  the  community  is  a 
wrong  done  to  the  community  itself,  and  so  to  the 
king  or  governing  power  as  its  head.  By  that  time 
principles  of  law  had  been  sought  and  found,  and 
precedent  ceased  to  be  the  only  basis  for  legal 
enactments  and  decisions.  By  that  time,  too,  the 
establishment  of  laws  was  no  longer  the  exclusive 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  STATE  LAW.  91 

right  of  kings :  the  people,  or  a  proportion  of  the 
people,  represented  in  assembly,  enacted  laws, 
which  were  at  most  confirmed  by  the  king. 

Until  then,  laws  had  been  forced  upon  people 
by  the  dominant  power,  whether  they  liked  it  or 
not,  on  a  basis  of  arbitrary  intervention.  From 
that  time  on,  the  nation  became  more  and  more 
autonomous,  though  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  the 
people  of  England  made  their  own  laws  and  de- 
liberately agreed  to  conform  to  them  until  the  Ee- 
form  Bill  of  1832  had  been  passed.  The  famous 
Parliament  of  1265  was  in  no  sense  a  representa- 
tive assembly.  Its  members  were  not  elected: 
they  were  selected  and  summoned  to  attend  by  De 
Montfort. 

Throughout  the  earlier  part  of  this  development, 
and  till  the  stage  last  referred  to  had  been  reached, 
there  had  been  in  a  very  real  sense  "  one  law  for 
the  weak  and  another  for  the  strong. "  The  Barons 
of  England,  for  instance,  under  the  feudal  system, 
had  never  considered  themselves  bound  by  the 
same  laws  that  governed  their  dependents.  They 
refused  to  concede  their  right  of  private  vengeance 
to  any  one.  Such  a  concession  would  have  seemed 
like  a  surrender  of  their  liberty  of  action,  which 
they  cherished  as  men,  but  more  particularly  as 
Barons.  The  consequence  of  this  was  a  continua- 
tion by  them  of  the  old  trial  by  combat ;  and  as  that 


92  WORLD  POLITICS. 

led  to  blood}^  feuds,  involving  large  numbers  of  re- 
tainers, disturbing  the  general  peace  and  the  welfare 
of  the  country  as  a  whole,  so  strong  a  feeling  was 
aroused  against  the  practice,  both  on  the  part  of 
king  and  people,  that  the  Barons  were  at  last  com- 
pelled to  adopt  some  other  expedient  in  order  to 
settle  their  differences. 

Many  of  them  had  come  to  realize  that  these  in- 
ternecine feuds,  often  taking  place  as  they  did  be- 
tween members  of  the  same  family,  were  radically 
wrong,  being  contrary  to  the  moral  law  as  well  as 
running  counter  to  their  own  best  interests.  But 
rather  than  submit  their  differences  to  the  ordi- 
nary courts,  or  even  to  adjudication  by  their  peers, 
which  still  seemed  to  them  to  involve  a  surrender 
of  their  liberty  of  action  as  well  as  of  their  dignity, 
they  frequently  agreed  upon  an  arbitrator,  volun- 
tarily submitting  the  matter  in  dispute  to  him, 
sometimes  accepting  and  sometimes  rejecting  his 
decision.  The  overwhelming  drawback  to  this 
system  was  that  the  decision  could  not  be  enforced, 
and,  in  early  days,  often  led  to  a  bloodier  feud  than 
might  otherwise  have  occurred.  In  the  reign  of 
William  III  the  practice  of  arbitration  was  legal- 
ized by  statute. 

The  latest  development  in  the  evolution  of  law 
has  already  been  shown  to  lie  in  the  acceptance  of 
the  doctrine  that  what  benefits  the  individual  bene- 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  STATE  LAW.  93 

fits  the  state ;  from  which  has  resulted  legislation 
devised  to  improve  the  conditions  in  which  all 
classes  of  the  community  live. 

Another  important  development,  though  of  a 
more  technical  nature,  is  found  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  which  provides  for  a  federal 
or  Supreme  Court,  whose  judges,  appointed  by 
the  President  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate,  hold 
oflfice  "  during  good  behaviour. "  The  jurisdiction 
of  this  court  is  chiefly  appellate.  If  a  question 
involving  the  constitutionality  of  a  law  is  sub- 
mitted, it  decides  the  matter ;  and  if  the  act  is  con- 
sidered unconstitutional,  the  federal  court  will  not 
enforce  it.  Since  the  Act  of  Settlement  in  1701, 
all  the  superior  judges  in  Great  Britain,  appointed 
by  the  Crown,  have  held  their  offices  "  during  good 
behaviour,"  and  cannot  be  removed  to  suit  political 
convenience.  Since  the  reign  of  George  III  they 
have  also  continued  to  hold  their  appointments 
notwithstanding  the  demise  of  the  Crown.  They  are 
disqualified  from  sitting  in  the  House  of  Commons. 

The  following  is  a  rough  summary  of  the  stages 
through  which  law  has  passed  in  reaching  its 
present  condition: 

(1)  Might  the  only  remedy.  Unrestrained  fight- 
ing the  only  rule. 

(2)  More  or  less  arbitrary  intervention  by  some 
dominant  power. 


94  WORLD  POLITICS, 

(3)  The  gradual  recognition  of  precedent  as 
worthy  of  consideration  in  connection  with  the 
tenure  and  conveyance  of  property ;  with  a  growing 
sense  of  honour  and  of  similar  sentiments  resulting 
in  rules  regulating  trial  by  combat. 

(4)  Voluntary  submission  of  disputes  to  arbitra- 
tion as  an  intermediate  stage  between  the  codi- 
fication of  the  customs  and  rules  of  the  third 
stage,  and 

(5)  The  enactment  of  laws  by  representatives  of 
the  people  with  permanent  courts  provided  with 
legitimate  means  for  the  enforcement  of  these  laws. 


CHAPTEE  XI. 

The  Evolution  of  International  Law. 

The  evolution  of  International  Law,  so  far  as  it 
has  gone,  has  followed  exactly  the  same  course. 

(1)  At  first,  unbridled  warfare  was  the  only 
means  conceived  of  for  settling  any  dispute.  Cap- 
tives were  slaughtered  or  sold  into  slavery ;  women 
were  part  of  the  spoils. 

(2)  Then,  when  this  was  found  to  interfere  with 
neighbouring  states  or  with  the  convenience  of 
some  dominant  power,  forcible  intervention,  ac- 
companied, if  necessary,  by  the  same  brutality, 
would  put  an  end  to  the  conflict.  This  interference 
would  frequently  lead  to  the  spoliation  of  one  or 
both  parties  to  the  original  dispute.  Sometimes, 
however,  the  intervening  state  would  get  the  worst 
of  it,  and  it  was  always  possible  that  the  two  con- 
tending nations  would  unite  temporarily  to  repel 
the  uninvited  mediator,  to  resume  hostilities  later, 
as  between  themselves,  without  fear  of  interruption. 

When  intervention  took  place  peacefully  it  was  on 
account  of  the  overwhelming  power  of  the  self- 
appointed  arbiter.     Frequent  examples  of  such  in- 


96  WORLD  POLITICS. 

tervention  are  found  in  the  history  of  ancient  Eome. 
Later,  and  after  the  third  stage  had  been  entered 
for  a  considerable  time,  the  Pope  would  often 
mediate  in  order  to  prevent  or  stop  warfare  between 
the  European  States,  and  in  this  case  it  was  not  only 
his  moral  power  that  inspired  awe,  but  an  apprecia- 
tion of  the  fact  that  at  his  bidding  other  nations 
might  possibly  come  forward  to  make  matters  dis- 
agreeable for  both  factions.  But  his  attempts  at 
intervention  did  not  always  prove  successful,  as 
was  shown  by  the  failure  of  Boniface  YIII  to  ex- 
ercise his  papal  authority  effectively  in  the  dis- 
putes between  France  and  England,  and  by  Eng- 
land's defiance  of  his  orders  to  abstain  from  all 
further  attacks  on  Scotland.  Boniface's  capture 
by  Philip  of  France  was  evidence  that  intervention 
by  right  of  arbitrary  might  was  a  dangerous  pro- 
ceeding. 

Mediating  powers  were  in  no  case  bound  by  any 
recognized  code  of  law — not  always  by  the  facts — 
though  they  were  influenced  to  a  limited  extent  by 
public  opinion  and  also  took  cognizance  of  prece- 
dent. In  this  way  international  customs  began  to 
be  established. 

(3)  The  third  stage  in  the  growth  of  law  as 
between  states,  beginning,  as  said,  long  before  the 
Popes  had  raised  intervention  to  a  fine  art,  was  the 
gradual  accumulation  of  precedent  derived   from 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  INTERNATIONAL  LAW.     97 

treaties,  truces,  and  other  international  compacts. 
These  precedents  were  not  collected  in  the  form  of 
a  written  code,  but  were  considered  more  or  less 
binding  as  custom.  Humanitarian  instincts,  the 
influence  of  religion,  and  the  fear  of  reprisals — a 
better  understanding  of  self-interest  and  a  sense 
of  duty  arising  together — tended  to  introduce  cer- 
tain restraints  in  the  waging  and  carrying  on  of 
wars.  It  came  to  be  accepted,  for  instance,  that  a 
declaration  or  notice  of  war  should  be  given  to  a 
previously  friendly  state. 

(4)  Arbitration  was  voluntarily  resorted  to,  some 
king  being  asked  to  act  as  referee  in  disputed  mat- 
ters, though  more  often  the  Pope.  Thus  Henry 
II  of  England,  on  account  of  his  power  and  char- 
acter, was  selected  as  arbitrator  between  Alphonso 
of  Castile  and  Sancho  of  Navarre.  Decisions  given 
in  this  way  were  not  based  upon  law,  but  upon  the 
referee's  understanding  of  equity  and  his  interpre- 
tation and  knowledge  of  custom. 

Soon,  however,  students  of  state  law,  such  as 
Francisco  Suarez,  began  to  collect  these  prece- 
dents, and  in  1625  Hugo  Grotius  wrote  his  famous 
treatise  on  international  law  or  custom,  entitled 
Jure  Belli  ac  Pads.  A  treatise  on  international 
maritime  law,  entitled  Consulato  del  marCf  had 
been  written  at  a  much  earlier  date. 

Since  then,  there  has  been  less  opportunity  for 

7 


98  WORLD  POLITICS. 

the  action  of  what  may  be  called  caprice  in  the 
decisions  given  by  arbitrators.  They  are  bound 
by  precedent  as  formulated  by  Grotius  and  more 
recent  authorities,  and  are  obliged  to  support  their 
opinions  by  reference  to  treaties,  such  as  those 
of  Westphalia,  Breda,  Kastadt,  Nystadt,  Paris, 
Washington,  and  many  others,  in  which  the  rights 
of  nations  have  been  to  some  extent  defined.  The 
"  Alabama"  claims,  the  Behring  Sea  fisheries  quar- 
rel, were  settled  in  this  way  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  while  the  Pope  officiated 
as  arbitrator  between  Germany  and  Spain,  in  1885, 
in  connection  with  the  Caroline  Islands. ' 

1  Omitting  earlier  instances  of  arbitration,  "the  Congress  of 
Vienna  of  1815  left  several  questions  to  arbitration,  such  as 
the  debt  on  the  Rhine  octrois,  the  succession  to  the  duchy  of 
Bouillon,  the  differences  between  the  cantons  of  Ure  and 
Tessin  on  the  subject  of  custom-house  and  on  a  portion  of  the 
Dutch  debt.  In  1834-35  the  King  of  Prussia  arbitrated  be- 
tween France  and  England  on  the  Portendic  indemnity.  In 
1839  the  Queen  of  England  arbitrated  between  France  and 
Mexico.  In  1864  the  Senate  of  Hamburg  arbitrated  between 
England  and  Peru.  In  1869  the  President  of  the  United 
States  arbitrated  between  England  and  Portugal.  ...  In 
1883  the  claims  of  France  and  Italy  against  Chile  for  dam- 
ages produced  by  her  naval  and  military  forces  on  their  sub- 
jects were  left  to  the  arbitration  of  a  mixed  tribunal,  consist- 
ing of  persons  nominated  by  the  President  of  the  French 
Republic  (or  by  the  King  of  Italy) ,  the  President  of  the  Re- 
public of  Chile,  and  the  Emperor  of  Brazil.  In  1884  the 
claims  of  the  United  States  against  Hayti  were  left  to  the 
arbitration  of  the  Hon.  WHliam  Strong.  ^^—International  Imw, 
by  L.  Levi,  chap,  xxiii.,  §404. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  INTERNATIONAL  LAW.    99 

But  arbitration  between  nations  is  subject  to  the 
same  drawback  as  was  arbitration  between  individ- 
uals in  England,  before  the  reign  of  William  III : 
the  parties  agreeing  to  the  reference  are  not  bound 
to  conform  to  the  decision  rendered.  If  it  suits 
them  they  can  accept  it;  if  it  displeases  them  it  can 
be  rejected— as  the  United  States  rejected  the  award 
given  against  it  in  the  matter  of  the  British- Ameri- 
can boundary  dispute  in  1831,  and  as  some  people 
in  England  wished  to  reject  the  award  given  against 
it  in  the  matter  of  the  "  Alabama"  claims. 

This  lack  of  power  to  enforce  a  decision,  leaving 
the  disputants  to  settle  their  affairs  by  trial  by 
combat,  would  seem  absurd  and  to  the  last  degree 
barbarous  in  matters  dealt  with  by  state  law. 
Imagine  a  decision  of  the  courts  in  a  dispute  be- 
tween the  Governors  of  New  York  and  Ohio,  or 
between  the  Dukes  of  Westminster  and  Portland, 
being  rejected  by  the  parties  concerned,  and  an 
immediate  raising  of  troops  to  settle  the  quarrel 
after  the  fashion  of  the  feudal  barons !  Yet  that 
is  exactly  the  condition  of  things  which  prevails 
today  in  international  matters,  and  that  is  all  that 
international  law,  so-called,  can  effect. 

Is  this  "inevitable"?  Is  it  "useless  to  look  for 
any  change  so  long  as  the  passions  of  men  are 
what  they  are"?  But  did  no  change  take  place  in 
the  Teutonic  laws?     Do  laws  depend  upon  the 


100 


WORLD  POLITICS. 


passions  of  men  for  their  enactment?  Are  not 
intelligence  and  common  sense  as  well  developed 
to-day  as  they  were  five  hundred  years  ago,  when  it 
was  seen  that  for  the  benefit  of  every  one  concerned, 
passions  should  be  restrained  by  law  and  if  neces- 
sary by  dispassionate  force,  subject  to  law?  Is  the 
policy  of  inaction  still  omnipotent?  Have  not 
people  come  to  realize  that  nothing  in  nature  can 
remain  stationary,  but  must  move  onward  in  the 
course  of  evolution? 

A  comparison  of  the  stages  passed  in  the  develop- 
ment of  international  and  state  law  respectively,  up 
to  the  present  time,  is  most  significant : 


State  or  Municipal 
Law. 

(1)  Might  the  only 
remedy.  Unrestrained 
fighting  the  only  rule. 

(2)  More  or  less  arbi- 
trary intervention  by 
some  dominant  power. 

(3)  The  gradual  rec- 
ognition of  precedent  as 
worthy  of  consideration 
in  connection  with  the 
tenure   and  conveyance 


International  Law. 

(1)  Might  the  only 
remedy.  Unrestrained 
fighting  the  only  rule. 

(2)  More  or  less  arbi- 
trary intervention  by 
some  dominant  power. 

(3)  The  gradual  rec- 
ognition of  precedent  as 
worthy  of  consideration 
in  connection  with  the 
tenure   and   conveyance 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  INTERNATIONAL  LAW.  101 


of  property,  with  a 
growing  sense  of  hon- 
our and  of  similar  sen- 
timents, resulting  in 
rules  regulating  trial  by 
combat,  such  as  that 
notice  of  intention  to 
fight  should  be  given. 

(4)  Voluntary  submis- 
sion of  disputes  to  arbi- 
tration, without  power 
to  enforce  decisions,  as 
an  intermediate  stage 
between  the  codification 
of  the  customs  and  rules 
of  the  third  stage,  and 

(5)  The  enactment  of 
laws  by  representatives 
of  the  people  with  per- 
manent courts  provided 
with  legitimate  means 
for  the  enforcement  of 
these  laws. 


of  property  (territory, 
etic.;),  "v-rith  a  groy/ing 
3ei;ise  of  ,hoi;io^r  and  of 
>  sinii/iar ;  ientiiaJiiitsj ;  v&t 
suiting  in  rules  regulat- 
ing trial  by  warfare,  such 
as  that  notice  of  intention 
to  fight  should  be  given. 
(4)  Voluntary  submis- 
sion of  disputes  to  arbi- 
tration, without  power 
to  enforce  decisions,  as 
an  intermediate  stage 
between  the  codification 
of  the  customs  and  rules 
of  the  third  stage,  and 


What  must  be  the  next  step  in  the  evolution  of 
International  Law?  Do  not  reason  and  experi- 
ence alike  answer  the  question?  Does  not  every 
ethical  concept  demand  that  this  step  should  be 


102  WORLD  POLITICS. 

taken,  and  does  not  self-interest  in  its  turn  pro- 
clainirits  needs?--' dP^  'enactment  of  laws  by  repre- 
sefntpitwes.  of  .the  nations  with  permanent  courts 
ptmidid  with  kgitwiCCke 'iiieans  f(yr  the  enforcement 
of  these  laws. 


part  afourtb. 
A   PRACTICAL   MEASURE. 


CHAPTEE  Xn. 

Its  General  Ghaeaoter. 

That  all  the  nations  claiming  to  be  civilized 
would  unite  in  enacting  laws  through  their  repre- 
sentatives, and  in  establishing  a  permanent  court 
provided  with  legitimate  means  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  such  laws,  is  almost  unthinkable;  but 
that  some  will  do  this  is  rather  more  than  proba- 
ble. The  bare  suggestion,  when  at  first  formally 
submitted,  will  provoke  a  storm  of  objection,  even 
in  those  countries  where  it  is  destined  to  meet  with 
the  most  support  and  with  comparatively  quick 
adoption. 

But  before  attempting  to  deal  with  these  objec- 
tions, obvious  as  they  are  from  a  superficial  point 
of  view,  it  will  be  well  to  elaborate  somewhat  the 
essential  idea  under  consideration,  and  then  to  fol- 
low up  the  inquiry  made  in  a  previous  chapter — 
determining  the  extent  to  which  the  principle  of 
interdependence  has  already  been  recognized  by 
the  great  Powers — by  pointing  out  the  important 
beginnings  that  have  even  now  been  made  by  the 


106  WORLD  POLITICS. 

Powers  in  applying  the  principle  in  the  practical 
way  suggested.  It  will  in  any  case  become  evi- 
dent that  the  measure  proposed— that  of  establish- 
ing international  laws  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name — 
would  not  be  a  sudden  or  radical  departure,  and 
would  only  necessitate,  in  the  first  place,  the  for- 
mal recognition  of  certain  practices,  which  have 
been  inaugurated  already,  as  duties  uncondition- 
ally binding  upon  civilized  nations. 

The  off-hand  criticism,  which  is  sure  to  be 
passed,  that  the  whole  idea  is  Utopian,  need  not 
be  seriously  considered.  Prejudice  and  ignorance 
once  condemned  the  idea  of  representative  govern- 
ment as  Utopian;  every  next  step  in  the  evolution 
of  anything,  until  it  is  taken,  is  labelled  Utopian. 
Labels  do  not  affect  laws  of  growth ;  ignorance  and 
consequent  scepticism  cannot  alter  the  fact  that 
an  ugly  green  caterpillar  develops  into  a  butterfly ; 
and  if  it  be  suggested  that  the  growth  of  human 
law  is  peculiar,  inasmuch  as  it  is  subject  to  the 
desires  of  man,  it  may  fairly  be  answered  that  the 
desires  of  man  are  subject  to  the  laws  of  universal 
nature.  It  might  be  supposed  that  the  apparently 
vacillating  desires  of  man  would  make  such  a  thing 
as  marriage  incapable  of  being  reduced  to  any 
rule  by  which  the  number  of  marriages  taking 
place  in  a  year  could  be  calculated  beforehand; 
and  yet  national  statistics  prove  that  their  occur- 


ITS  GENERAL  CHARACTER.  107 

rence  can  be  calculated  beforehand,  and  that  they 
take  place  according  to  constant  natural  laws. 
The  growth  of  human  law  is  not  peculiar.  Men 
in  the  mass  do  not  depart  from  their  own  record ; 
and  it  is  because  civilized  man  is  ready  for  the 
change  in  question — has  been  working  up  to  it  for 
centuries — that  the  change  is  sure  to  come. 

Jeremy  Bentham  cannot  be  accused  of  taking  an 
optimistic  or  idealistic  view  of  his  fellow-men,  and 
his  well-known  definition  of  the  impracticable  is 
almost  sufficient  in  itself  as  an  answer  to  the  "  Uto- 
pian" objection.  "  There  is  one  case  in  which,  in 
a  certain  sense,  a  plan  may  be  said  to  be  too  good 
to  be  practicable,  and  that  case  a  very  comprehen- 
sive one.  It  is  where,  without  adequate  induce- 
ment in  the  shape  of  personal  interest,  the  plan 
requires  for  its  accomplishment  that  some  individ- 
ual or  class  x)f  individuals  shall  have  made  a  sacri- 
fice of  his  or  their  personal  interest  to  the  interest 
of  the  whole. "  To  such  a  plan,  "  the  term  '  Uto- 
pian '  may  without  impropriety  be  applied."  ' 

Virtually  no  sacrifice  of  "  personal  interest"  to 
the  interest  of  the  whole  will  be  required  in  this 
case,  while  more  than  "  adequate  inducement  in  the 
shape  of  personal  interest"  can  be  offered. 

*  The  Book  of  Fallacies,  by  Jeremy  Bentham.  "  Fallacies  of 
Confusion, "  chap.  ix. ,  §  4. 


CHAPTEE  Xin. 

Its  Fikst  Clause. 

The  first  clause  of  the  measure  under  considera- 
tion is :  That  nations  should  unite  in  enacting  laws 
through  their  representatives ^  just  as  individuals 
have  for  long  united  in  doing  the  same  thing. 

This  has  already  been  accomplished  to  a  certain 
extent.  What  has  been  done  only  needs  to  be  car- 
ried further.  International  Conventions  or  Con- 
gresses have  frequently  been  held,  and  at  these, 
not  only  rules  governing  international  relation- 
ships have  been  agreed  to,  but  principles  of  law, 
in  the  highest  and  best  sense,  have  been  enun- 
ciated. 

Eules  for  the  navigation  of  rivers  separating  or 
traversing  several  States  were  laid  down  by  the 
Congress  of  Vienna  in  1815.  A  "Declaration  of 
Maritime  Law"  was  agreed  to  at  the  Congress  of 
Paris  of  1856,  and  the  rights  and  duties  of  neutrals 
then  defined  were  further  elaborated  in  the  Treaty 
of  Washington  in  1870.  What  may  be  called 
rules  for  the  conduct  of  war  were  framed  at  the 


ITS  FIRST  CLAUSE.  109 

Geneva  Convention  of  1864,  in  a  declaration 
signed  at  St.  Petersburg  in  1868,  and,  tentatively, 
in  the  proposed  Declaration  of  Brussels.  A  "  Uni- 
versal Postal  Union"  was  established  by  treaty  in 
1874  (enlarged  and  modified  in  subsequent  years). 
International  rules  were  agreed  to,  at  a  Convention 
held  at  Paris  in  1874,  for  the  protection  of  subma- 
rine telegraph  cables.  Kules  concerning  industrial 
property,  including  patents,  trademarks,  etc.,  were 
established  by  nearly  all  the  Powers  at  a  Convention 
held  at  Paris  in  1883.  Kules  regulating  navigation 
were  adopted  at  the  International  Marine  Confer- 
ence held  at  Washington  in  1889.' 

In  the  protocol  signed  at  the  Conference  of  Lon- 
don of  1871,  the  representatives  of  Eussia,  Aus- 
tria, France,  Germany,  Great  Britain,  Italy,  and 
Turkey,  stated  that  they  recognized  it  to  be  a  prin- 
ciple of  international  law  that  no  power  can  avoid 
the  fulfilment  of  treaties,  or  alter  their  stipulations, 
unless  with  the  consent  of  the  contracting  parties 
voluntarily  given.  The  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  of 
1850,  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
professed  to  "  establish  a  general  principle"  of  law. 

Even  ethical  principles  have  received  recogni- 
tion, as  well  as  principles  of  law.  One  noticeable 
instance  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  "  Declaration 

*  See  Note  F. ,  on  "  The  International  Marine  Conference.  " 
This  Conference  was  called  by  the  United  States. 


110  WORLD  POLITICS. 

of  the  Powers  on  the  Abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade" 
{Traite  des  Nhgres),  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  in 
1815,  according  to  the  terms  of  which, — 

"  The  Plenipotentiaries  of  the  Powers  who  signed 
the  Treaty  of  Paris  of  May  30, 1814,  united  in  Con- 
ference, having  taken  into  consideration  that  the 
commerce  known  as  the  African  Slave-Trade  has 
been  held  by  just  and  enlightened  men  of  all  times 
as  repugnant  to  the  principles  of  humanity  and 
universal  morals; 

"...  That  the  Plenipotentiaries  assembled  at 
the  Congress  could  not  better  honour  their  mis- 
sions, fulfil  their  duties,  and  manifest  the  princi- 
ples which  guide  their  august  Sovereigns,  than 
...  in  proclaiming  in  the  name  of  their  Sovereigns 
the  wish  to  put  an  end  to  an  evil  which  has  for 
so  long  desolated  Africa,  degraded  Europe,  and 
afflicted  humanity ; — 

"The  said  Plenipotentiaries  are  agreed  to  de- 
liberate upon  the  means  for  accomplishing  an 
object  so  salutary  by  a  solemn  declaration  of  the 
principles  which  guided  them  in  this  labour. 

"Consequently,  .  .  .  they  declare  in  the  face 
of  Europe  that,  regarding  the  universal  abolition 
of  the  Slave-Trade  as  a  measure  especially  worthy 
of  their  attention,  in  conformity  with  the  spirit  of 
the  age  and  the  generous  principles  of  their  august 
Sovereigns,  they  are  animated  by  the  sincere  de- 


ITS  FIRST  CLAUSE.  Ill 

sire  of  concurring  in  the  execution  of  the  shortest 
and  most  efficacious  measure  by  every  means  in 
their  power,  and  to  act  in  the  use  of  such  means 
with  all  the  zeal  and  all  the  perseverance  which 
they  owe  to  so  great  and  beautiful  a  cause.  .  .  .  "  ' 

This  remarkable  declaration  (rather  surprising 
in  its  morality)  was  signed  by  all  the  participants 
in  the  Congress,  representing  Austria,  Spain, 
France,  Great  Britain,  Portugal  and  Brazil,  Prus- 
sia, Russia,  and  Sweden  and  Norway. 

There  is  one  point  of  vital  importance  to  be 
borne  in  mind  in  connection  with  these  interna- 
tional rules  or  laws :  that  unanimity  of  consent  is 
not  necessary  in  order  to  insure  unanimous  recog- 
nition of  the  rule.  Thus,  although  neither  the 
United  States,  Spain,  nor  Mexico  agreed  to  the 
Declaration  of  Paris  abolishing  privateering,  they 
are  nevertheless  almost  as  much  bound  by  the 
terms  of  that  declaration  as  if  they  had  signed  it. 
As  late  as  1895,  Portugal  and  Brazil,  Mexico  and 
other  South  American  Republics  had  not  agreed  to 
the  provisions  of  the  Geneva  Convention;  but  a 
violation  of  its  rules  by  any  one  of  those  states 
would  undoubtedly  meet  with  protest,  probably 
supported  by  force,  on  the  part  of  the  other  Powers. 
Experience  has  proved  that  any  declaration  of  inter- 
national law  by  two  or  more  states,  such  as  that 
^  See  International  Law,  by  Levi,  p.  301. 


112  WORLD  POLITICS. 

contained  in  the  Treaty  of  Washington  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain— always  suppos- 
ing that  it  embodies  sound  principles  and  seems 
likely  to  prove  generally  beneficial— will  soon  be 
adopted,  if  only  by  silent  consent,  by  all  the  civil- 
ized nations.  More  often  the  adoption  will  be 
formal. 

There  has  always  been  a  considerable  lapse  of 
time  between  the  original  signing  of  such  treaties 
embodying  laws,  and  their  ratification  by  states 
other  than  the  original  signatories.  It  was  not 
until  1862  that  practically  all  the  great  Powers  had 
given  effect  to  the  Declaration  concerning  the  Slave- 
Trade,  of  1815;  and  although  the  Convention  of 
Geneva  was  held  in  1864,  its  provisions  were  not 
formally  acceded  to  by  the  United  States  until  1882. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  if  only  two  or  three 

nations  combined  at  the  present  time  to  formulate 

a  Code  of  International  Law,  if  such  a  code  were 

just  and  reasonable  in   its   provisions,   it  would 

become  practically  binding  upon  all  the  civilized 

Powers. ' 

'  lu  formulating  such  a  Code,  the  "high  contracting  par- 
ties" could  hardly  do  better  than  take  some  concise  state 
code,  such  as  the  Code  Napoleon,  with  its  five  parts— viz.,  the 
Code  Civil,  the  Code  de  Procedure  Civile,  the  Code  de  Commerce, 
the  Code  d' Instruction  Criminelle,  and  the  Code  Penal— 9.11^ 
interpret  in  terms  applying  to  nations  the  laws  framed  for 
the  benefit  of  individuals,  so  far  as  this  might  be  deemed  nec- 
essary or  useful. 


ITS  FIRST  CLAUSE.  113 

One  of  the  first  cares  of  the  international  legis- 
lators would  of  necessity  be  the  recognition  and 
protection  of  the  absolute  autonomy  of  partici- 
pating states,  for  the  object  of  law  is  not  only  to 
define  and  safeguard  rights,  but  to  insure  liber- 
ties. If  state  law  were  to  attempt  any  interference 
with  the  acts  of  a  man  which  do  not  directly  affect 
other  individuals  or  the  community  as  a  whole,  it 
would  outrage  every  canon  of  personal  freedom. 
In  the  same  way,  international  law  would  be  strict- 
ly confined  to  international  relationships. 

The  limits  of  justifiable  interference  in  the  acts 
of  individuals  have  been  fairly  well  determined. 
Such  acts  must  demonstrably  affect  the  community 
before  the  law  can  take  cognizance  of  them.  Sui- 
cide, for  example,  is  held  to  affect  the  community 
injuriously,  in  so  far  as  it  unnecessarily  and  evilly 
deprives  the  state  of  a  citizen.  Suicide  is  a  mur- 
derous act  committed  by  an  individual  upon  him- 
self, and  the  law  warrants  intervention  accordingly. 
If  the  internal  conduct  of  a  state  were  such  that  its 
very  existence  as  a  state  were  threatened,  as  by  a 
civil  war  carried  on  for  so  long  or  so  barbarously 
that  the  extermination  of  both  parties  were  to  appear 
probable,  international  law,  founded  upon  the  prin- 
ciples outlined,  would  warrant  interference,  and, 
if  necessary,  the  subjection  of  the  country  to  tempo- 
rary restraint.  But  only  in  such  extreme  circum- 
8 


114  WORLD  POLITICS. 

stances  would  international  law,  so  founded,  be 
applicable  to  domestic  affairs ;  a  conclusion  which 
prevailing  international  custom  supports. 

It  may  be  suggested  as  significant,  however,  that 
state  law  is  less  constrained  in  its  dealings  wdth  a 
man's  treatment  of  his  own  household  than  it  is  in 
connection  with  what  are  sometimes  described  as 
his  "  self-regarding"  acts,  or  acts  which  are  alleged 
to  affect  himself  only — if  such  be  conceivable. 
Gross  ill-treatment  by  parents  of  their  offspring, 
or  of  servants  by  their  employers  (formerly  of 
slaves  by  their  owners),  is  punishable,  and  would 
be  prevented  even  though  there  might  seem  to  be 
no  immediate  danger  that  the  ill-treatment  would 
result  in  death.  For  state  law  distinguishes  be- 
tween an  individual  and  those  whom  he  controls — 
those  whom  he  would  perhaps  claim  to  own;  and 
international  law  would  distinguish  between  a  civil 
war  on  the  one  hand,  and  war  between  a  coun- 
try and  its  colonies,  or  a  rebellion  by  a  con- 
quered people  against  its  rulers,  on  the  other.  In- 
ternational custom  approves  this  discrimination 
also. 

Once  these  distinguishing  features  were  defined, 
and  the  legal  and  philosophical  principles  upon 
which  such  differences  really  depend  were  formu- 
lated, intervention,  instead  of  being  the  arbitrary 
act  of  some  neighbouring  state,  would  be  the  legiti- 


ITS  FIRST  CLAUSE.  115 

mate  enforcement  of  a  law  by  the  lawmaking 
Powers,  whenever  the  conditions  no  longer  war- 
ranted an  attitude  of  strict  neutrality. 

Another  important  matter  requiring  considera- 
tion im  an  International  Code  would  be  the  owner- 
ship of  unoccupied  territory,  the  right  to  acquire 
it,  the  terms  upon  which  it  might  be  acquired,  and 
so  forth,  as  well  as  the  conditions  necessary  to 
validate  the  leasing  or  purchase  of  territory  or  other 
property  from  uncivilized  peoples,  in  regard  to 
which  the  most  hopeless  confusion  prevails  at  the 
present  time,  leading  to  constant  friction  and  dan- 
gerous contretemps  between  the  nations.  Trading 
rights  should  also  be  defined.  It  would  perhaps 
be  decided  to  make  trade  with  the  remaining  non- 
descript territories,  such  as  portions  of  China  and 
Africa  which  have  not  as  yet  been  stolen  by  the 
Powers,  free  to  all  comers. 

But  this  is  neither  the  time  nor  the  place  for 
submitting  a  detailed  international  application  of 
the  legal  and  philosophical  principles  in  question. 
The  application  is  easy  once  the  principles  are 
grasi:)ed.  Nor  would  it  be  necessary  for  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Powers  participating  in  a  legisla- 
tive Convention  to  admit  the  soundness  of  these 
principles.  No  matter  upon  what  they  might  base 
their  action,  it  is  manifestly  of  the  first  importance 
that  a  legal  code  should  be  formulated  and  accepted, 


116  WORLD  POLITICS. 

regulating  the  relations  of  states  in  as  many  re- 
spects as  possible,  instead  of  confining  itself  to  the 
few  matters  which  international  "  law"  already  cov- 
ers, such  as  maritime  procedure,  the  conduct  of  war, 
and  so  forth.  "  The  law  of  nature  is,  Do  the  thing, 
and  you  shall  have  the  power;  but  they  who  do  not 
the  thing  have  not  the  power."  The  formulation 
of  right  laws  is  in  itself  a  revelation  of  right  prin- 
ciple. 

Failing  right  principle,  a  mere  codification  of 
custom,  after  the  style  of  the  laws  of  iElfred,  would 
be  better  than  nothing  to  begin  with,  so  long  as  it 
were  formally  agreed  to  by  some  of  the  great  Pow- 
ers, and  so  long  as  the  establishment  of  permanent 
courts  provided  with  legitimate  mean&  for  the  en- 
forcement of  such  laws  were  made  part  of  the 
measure.  Even  the  proper  regulation  of  trial  by 
combat  would  be  a  step  in  the  right  direction, 
strange  as  the  admission  sounds  in  the  nineteenth 
century.  To  take  steps  to  confine  warfare  on 
land  to  the  contending  armies,  sparing  as  much  as 
possible  the  non-combatants,  the  women,  and  the 
children,  by  leaving  the  crops,  the  water  supply, 
and  private  dwelling-houses  intact,  would  at  least 
bring  international  conflicts  nearer  the  standard  of 
modern  duellists,  who  would  consider  it  monstrous 
to  set  fire  to  each  other's  houses. 

Still,  it  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  the  civilized 


ITS  FIRST  CLAUSE.  117 

nations  would  be  content  to  let  the  matter  rest 
there,  once  they  were  to  give  it  their  serious  atten- 
tion, and  once  the  pressing  need  for  international 
legislation  were  brought  home  to  the  great  mass  of 
the  people,  with  whom  the  responsibility  for  the 
solution  of  the  question  will  ultimately  rest,  and  who 
will  demand  the  formulation  of  a  proper  Code,  for 
their  own  peace  and  security.  Precedent,  taken  by 
itself,  will  not  be  considered  sufficient  or  satisfac- 
tory ;  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  a  fitting  basis  for 
a  Code  could  be  found  apart  from  the  long  experi- 
ence already  gained  in  state  law.  By  reasoning 
from  the  individual  to  the  nation,  remembering 
that  a  nation  is  an  individual  for  all  legal  intents 
and  purposes,  the  representatives  of  the  Powers 
in  Convention  assembled  could  draw  up  a  Code, 
which,  in  the  course  of  time,  after  ratification  by 
the  Governments  respectively  represented,  would 
inevitably  become  the  world^s  law. 

Whatever  results  might  be  arrived  at  in  the  first 
place,  could  be  in  no  sense  final,  and  further  as- 
semblies might  be  held  at  stated  intervals  in  order 
to  revise  the  original  ordinances.  International 
law  would  continue  to  develop,  just  as  state  law 
undergoes  modification  in  proportion  to  the  grow- 
ing perceptions  of  individuals.  We  may  be  sure 
that  as  the  whole  trend  of  evolution  has  been  work- 
ing up  to  this  minor  climax  in  the  life  of  humanity, 


118  WORLD  POLITICS. 

once  a  deliberate  beginning  is  made,  progress  will 
be  steady  and  sure. 

The  first  step  is  a  Conference ;  then  to  get  two  or 
three  of  the  nations  represented  to  agree  upon  a 
Code;  and  the  rest  would  virtually  follow  of  its 
own  accord. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

Its  Second  Clause. 

The  secoDd  clause  of  the  measure  proposed  is 
that  when  enacting  laws  through  their  representa- 
tives, the  nations  should  also  establish  a  permanent 
court  to  adjudicate  upon  all  international  questions 
which  could  not  he  settled  amicably,  as  between 
those  nations  giving  formal  adherence  to  the  Code. 

This,  again,  has  already  been  accomplished  to  a 
certain  extent;  what  has  been  done  only  needs  to 
be  carried  further. 

It  may  be  argued  that  the  appointment  of  arbi- 
trators to  settle  a  specific  question  is  in  no  way  a 
precedent  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  a  permanent  court.  It  may  further  be  held  that 
Article  VIII  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris  of  1856,  for  in- 
stance, did  not  constitute  the  signatory  Powers  a 
permanent  tribunal  for  the  settlement  of  any  differ- 
ences between  Turkey  and  the  other  Powers,  though 
that  is  what  the  wording  of  the  article  actually 
implies — for  "if  there  should  arise  between  the 
Sublime  Porte  and  one  or  more  of  the  signing 


120  WORLD  POLITICS. 

Powers,  any  misunderstanding  which  might  en- 
danger the  maintenance  of  their  relations,  the  Sub- 
lime Porte  and  each  of  such  Powers,  before  having 
recourse  to  the  use  of  force,  shall  afford  the  other 
contracting  parties  the  opportunity  of  preventing 
such  an  extremity  by  means  of  their  mediation." 

Ample  and  explicit  precedent  for  the  establish- 
ment of  such  a  court  is  to  be  found,  nevertheless,  as 
in  the  protocol  appended  to  the  Treaty  of  Commerce 
and  Navigation  between  Great  Britain  and  Italy, 
signed  at  Eome  in  1883,  according  to  the  terms  of 
which : 

"  Any  controversies  which  may  arise  respecting 
the  interpretation  or  the  execution  of  the  present 
Treaty,  or  the  consequences  of  any  violation  thereof, 
shall  be  submitted,  when  the  means  of  settling  them 
directly  by  amicable  agreement  are  exhausted,  to 
the  decision  of  commissions  of  arbitration,  and  the 
result  of  such  arbitration  shall  be  binding  upon 
both  Governments. 

"The  members  of  such  commissions  shall  be 
selected  by  the  two  Governments  by  common  con- 
sent, failing  which,  each  of  the  parties  shall  nomi- 
nate an  arbitrator,  or  an  equal  number  of  arbitra- 
tors, and  the  arbitrators  thus  appointed  shall  select 
an  umpire. " 

This  provision  for  the  settlement  of  all  differences 
whatsoever  arising  from  the  interpretation  of  a 


ITS  SECOND  CLAUSE.  121 

treaty,  by  a  tribunal  duly  provided  for,  actually 
constitutes  a  permanent  court,  to  become  kinetic, 
as  it  were,  with  comparatively  little  delay. 

According  to  Levi,  "  The  Convention  of  Paris  of 
1873  (Art.  XVIII),  for  a  Universal  Postal  Union, 
has  a  provision  to  the  effect  that  in  case  of  disagree- 
ment between  two  or  more  members  of  the  union  as 
to  the  interpretation  of  the  Convention,  the  question 
in  dispute  is  to  be  decided  by  arbitration." 

"  The  pact  of  union  between  Costa  Kica,  Guate- 
mala, Honduras,  and  Salvador  [self-governing 
states],  dated  February  17th,  1872,  Article  III, 
provides :  The  maintenance  of  peace  between  the 
Central  American  Republics  is  a  strict  duty  of 
their  respective  Governments,  and  any  differences 
which  may  arise  between  them,  whatever  be  the 
cause,  will  be  settled  amicably  by  means  of  the 
mediation  of  the  Governments  which  are  not  parties 
to  the  difference.  In  cases  where  the  difference 
remains  unsettled,  the  same  shall  be  left  to  the 
arbitration  either  of  the  Central  American  au- 
thority which  shall  be  afterwards  established,  or  to 
the  judgment  of  a  tribunal  of  arbitration,  composed 
of  representatives  of  the  neutral  Central  American 
Governments.  The  Government  or  Governments 
which  shall  infringe  this  principle  will  be  guilty 
of  treason  against  the  Central  American  nations."  ' 

^International  Law,  by  Leone  Levi,  chap,  xxiii.,  §  417. 


122  WORLD  POLITICS. 

These  agreements  afford  further  precedents  for 
what  is  proposed,  though  common  sense  should 
make  precedent  almost  superfluous.  The  same 
circumstances  that  make  a  permanent  Court  desir- 
able in  matters  of  state  procedure,  hold  good  in 
the  field  of  international  complications.  The  ap- 
pointment of  arbitrators  for  special  purposes  is  not 
only  a  cumbersome  and  lengthy  proceeding,  involv- 
ing dangerous  delay  and  giving  scope  for  an  increase 
of  friction  between  the  parties  at  issue,  but  is  con- 
trary to  the  best  principles  of  jurisprudence,  ac- 
cording to  which  immediate  relief  should  be  obtain- 
able for  just  cause,  at  any  time,  by  all  persons. 

It  has  also  been  found  that  men  whose  sole  busi- 
ness it  is  to  interpret  the  law,  who  hold  office  for 
life  or  "during  good  behaviour,"  and  whose  posi- 
tions and  future  employment  in  no  way  depend 
upon  the  nature  of  the  decisions  they  give,  are  more 
likely  to  be  impartial  and  impersonal  in  their  jus- 
tice than  those  who,  appointed  for  a  brief  period 
or  subject  to  dismissal  without  due  cause,  are  al- 
most sure  to  be  affected  by  a  consciousness  of  the 
results  to  themselves  if  they  should  give  a  decision 
adverse  to  the  interests  of  those  who  appointed 
them. 

An  International  Supreme  Court  would  therefore 
have  to  be  established.  It  might  consist  of  a  fixed 
number  of  judges  to  be  named  by  the  representa- 


ITS  SECOND  CLAUSE.  123 

tives  of  the  Powers  when  assembled  for  legislative 
purposes,  or  by  the  Heads  of  States,  without  re- 
gard for  the  nationality  of  the  appointees;  or  it 
might  consist  of  a  varying  number,  one  or  more 
judges- being  appointed  by  the  Governments  of  each 
participating  country.  These  judges  would  natur- 
ally be  men  of  unimpeachable  probity,  and  in  the 
event  of  it  being  thought  better  that  they  should  not 
be  lawyers,  a  permanent  Advisory  Council  could  be 
established,  consisting  of  lawyers  whose  only  duty 
it  would  be  to  advise  the  Court  on  points  of  law. 

The  Court  would  have  to  be  held  in  some  neu- 
tral city,  such  as  Geneva  or  Cairo;  perhaps  at  St. 
Helena. 

All  matters  laid  before  the  Court  for  decision 
would  have  to  be  submitted  by  the  Heads  of  States. 
It  could  deal  with  them  only,  for  it  would  be  con- 
cerned with  nations,  not  with  individuals,  and  the 
Government  of  each  country  would  be  responsible 
for  the  maintenance  of  order,  under  the  provisions 
of  its  own  law,  within  its  own  territories. 


CHAPTEE  XV. 

Its  Thied  Clause. 

The  last  clause  of  the  measure  may  seem  to  be 
a  departure  from  custom:  that  this  permaneyit 
Court  should  he  provided  with  means  to  enforce  its 
decisions.  Precedent,  however,  again  shows  that 
the  departure  would  not  be  radical,  but  would  be 
a  consecutive  move  along  a  line  of  procedure  al- 
ready established. 

For  the  proposition  simply  comes  to  this :  that 
the  law-making  Powers  shall  mutually  agree  to  give 
reality  to  their  own  laws  by  guaranteeing  their  en- 
forcement. They  would  first  formulate  their  Code 
of  law,  then  agree  by  regular  Treaty  to  conform  to 
it,  and  then  undertake  to  enforce  the  provisions  of 
the  Treaty  thus  entered  into. 

Such  a  compact  has  frequently  been  made  in  the 
past.  It  has  become  a  recognized  mode  of  proced- 
ure, and  receives  due  attention  at  the  hands  of  all 
writers  on  International  Law.  Thus  Hall  explains 
(Part  II,  chap,  x.,  §113)  that  "Treaties  of  guar- 
antee are  agreements  through  which  powers  en- 


ITS  THIRD  CLAUSE.  125 

gage,  either  by  an  independent  treaty  to  maintain 
a  given  state  of  things,  or  by  a  treaty  or  provisions 
accessory  to  a  treaty,  to  secure  the  stipulations  of 
the  latter  from  infraction  by  the  use  of  such  means 
as  may  be  specified  or  required  against  a  country 
acting  adversely  to  such  stipulations."  He  cites 
as  an  instance  of  guarantee  the  Treaty  of  April 
15th,  1856,  by  which  England,  Austria,  and  France 
guaranteed  "  jointly  and  severally  the  independence 
and  the  integrity  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  recorded 
in  the  treaty  concluded  at  Paris  on  the  30th 
March";  and  also  the  treaties  of  1831  and  1839, 
"by  which  Belgium  was  constituted  an  indepen- 
dent and  neutral  state  in  the  common  interests  of 
the  contracting  powers,  and  while  placed  under  an 
obligation  to  maintain  neutrality,  received  a  guar- 
antee that  it  should  be  enabled  to  do  so."  So  long 
ago  as  1648  a  Treaty  of  this  kind  was  entered  into 
by  France  and  Sweden,  to  prevent  the  Peace  of 
Westphalia  from  being  violated  by  the  Germans 
or  by  the  Austrians.* 

The  important  difference  between  these  Treaties 
of  Guarantee  and  what  is  now  proposed  is  that,  in- 
stead of  it  being  left  to  the  contracting  parties  to 
enforce  the  laws  they  have  agreed  to,  at  their  own 
convenience,  or  not  at  all,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  International  Court  to  enforce  its  own  deci- 
» Bowen,  §  120. 


126  WORLD  POLITICS. 

sions;  further,  the  law-making  Powers  shall  put 
means  at  the  disposal  of  the  Court  to  enable  this  to 
be  done. 

How  unsatisfactory  an  ordinary  Treaty  of  Guar- 
antee is,  may  be  judged  from  a  plea  put  forward 
by  Lord  Derby  in  1867,  that  a  collective  guarantee 
means  that  in  the  event  of  a  treaty  being  violated, 
"  all  the  powers  who  have  signed  the  treaty  may  be 
called  upon  for  their  collective  action.  No  one  of 
those  powers  is  liable  to  be  called  upon  to  act 
singly  or  separately.  .  .  .  We  are  bound  in  honour 
— you  cannot  place  a  legal  construction  upon  it — 
to  see  in  concert  with  others  that  these  arrange- 
ments are  maintained.  But  if  the  other  powers 
join  with  us,  it  is  certain  that  there  will  be  no 
violation.  .  .  .  If  they,  situated  exactly  as  we  are, 
decline  to  join,  we  are  not  bound  single-handed  to 
make  up  the  deficiency. "  ' 

Imagine  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  for  ex- 
ample, depending  for  their  enforcement  upon  the 
possible  preferences  and  inclinations  of  its  private 
citizens  in  some  particular  case !  They  would  cease 
to  be  laws;  they  would  become  rules,  but  with  less 
authority  than  rules  of  baseball,  which  an  umpire 
is  at  least  sometimes  able  to  enforce  by  sheer 
might  of  avoirdupois. 

Imagine,  again,  that  the  Courts  were  obliged  to 
» Quoted  by  Hall,  Part  II.,  chap,  x.,  §  113. 


ITS  THIRD  CLAUSE.  127 

refer  in  each  instance  to  the  law-making  power, 
whether  a  representative  assembly  or  an  autocratic 
ruler,  in  order  to  have  their  decisions  made  effec- 
tive: it  would  open  each  case  afresh,  leading  to 
infinite  delay  and  to  constant  perversions  of  jus- 
tice, besides  reducing  the  Courts  to  the  position  of 
intermediaries,  instead  of  constituting  them  direct 
agents,  as  is  necessary  if  their  authority  is  to  be 
respected. 

Upon  the  right  settlement  of  this  question  entire- 
ly depends  the  practical  value  of  international  leg- 
islation. The  weak  spot  in  the  armour  of  arbitra- 
tion has  always  been  that  decisions  so  obtained 
cannot  be  made  final.  It  is  open  to  the  contending 
parties  to  accept  or  reject  these  decisions  as  they 
may  happen  to  prefer;  and  if  war  should  follow 
arbitration,  the  delay  resulting  therefrom  and  the 
discussions  arising  from  the  negotiations  could  but 
add  fuel  to  the  fire,  bitterness  to  the  contest. ' 

'  This  was  the  fatal  flaw  in  the  proposed  Treaty  of  Arbitra- 
tion of  1897  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain.  In 
its  original  condition  it  was  a  sort  of  friendly  flourish,  but 
beyond  that  it  was  not  worth  the  paper  it  was  written  on. 
After  maceration  at  the  hands  of  the  Senate  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations,  the  good  sense  of  both  nations  awoke  to 
the  Treaty's  deficiencies  ;  and,  failing  a  proper  solution  of  the 
matter,  the  Senate  refused  to  ratify  it,  for  although  forty- 
three  Senators  voted  in  favor  of  ratification  and  only  twenty- 
six  voted  against  it,  the  measure  failed  to  obtain  endorsement, 
as  an  affirmative  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  voting 
was  necessary  to  ratification. 


128  WORLD  POLITICS. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  law  which  exists  on  paper 
only,  which  has  no  "strong  arm"  to  back  it,  is  al- 
most worse  than  useless,  seeing  that  it  is  likely  to 
inspire  contempt — if  it  inspires  notice  of  any  sort 
—and  certainly  cannot  inspire  respect.  Without 
the  "  strong  arm"  it  is  an  empty  form ;  with  the 
"  strong  arm"  it  is  the  mainstay  of  order,  of  jus- 
tice, of  peace  and  prosperity. 

How  the  Court  should  be  provided  with  means  to 
enforce  its  decisions  is  another  matter,  though  the 
solution  of  the  problem  is  easily  found :  it  should 
be  done  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  same  way  that 
national  courts  are  provided  with  similar  means. 
There  is  an  Executive  as  well  as  a  Judicial  and  a 
Legislative  side  to  the  law. 

It  would  be  unprofitable  to  enter  now  into  details 
concerning  the  differences  between  the  functions  of 
the  sheriff  and  the  constabulary  in  the  administra- 
tion of  the  English  and  American  law,  or  to  attempt 
to  outline  the  application  of  the  same  practice  on  an 
international  scale.  Nor  would  it  be  of  present  ser- 
vice to  show  the  evolution  of  one  of  the  executive 
branches  of  the  law  up  to  its  modern  high  standard 
of  excellence.  "  Yet  the  stages  of  growth  are  suffi- 
ciently well  marked — from  the  responsibility  of  the 
tithing  to  the  responsibility  of  its  head,  from  the 
functions  of  the  head  borough  or  tithing-man  to 
the  functions  of  the  constable,  from  the  election  of 


ITS   THIRD  CLAUSE.  129 

a  constable  to  the  election  of  a  plurality  of  con- 
stables, deputy  constables,  and  watchmen,  under 
parochial  or  other  local  authority,  to  a  plurality  of 
constables  under  the  central  authority  of  a  Secretary 
of  State"  ' — as  in  the  London  Metropolitan  Police 
system. 

Nor  would  it  be  of  any  avail  to  consider  whether 
this  system  is  or  is  not  preferable  to  that  prevailing 
in  countries  more  directly  influenced  by  Koman 
Law,  in  which  the  gendarmerie  have  judicial  as  well 
as  executive  functions.  Some  modification  of  one 
or  the  other  system  will  probably  be  applied  ulti- 
matelyio  the  international  situation.  These  future 
developments  will  take  care  of  themselves,  how- 
ever. 

The  only  point  requiring  immediate  attention  is 
the  extent  to  which  the  principle  could  be  practi- 
cally and  wisely  applied  at  the  present  time. 

Let  it  be  supposed  that  a  certain  number  of  na- 
tions were  to  take  part  in  a  Conference  for  the  pur- 
pose of  considering  the  present  condition  of  Inter- 
national Law.  The  representatives  attending  the 
Conference  would  report  to  their  respective  Govern- 
ments the  result  of  their  deliberations,  and  some 
of  them  possibly  would  submit  the  draft  of  an  In- 
ternational Code,  covering  such  points  as  it  had 
been  deemed  necessary  or  wise  to  cover.     After 

'  History  of  Grime  in  England,  vol.  ii.,  p.  460,  by  L.  O.  Pike. 
9 


130  WORLD  POLITICS. 

this  Code  had  been  amended  by  the  participating 
Governments,  it  would  be  referred  back  to  the  Con- 
ference, adjourned  for  that  purpose;  a  revised  Code 
would  be  drafted,  would  be  again  submitted  to  the 
Governments  for  ratification,  and,  no  matter  how 
long  it  might  take,  would  finally  be  adopted. 

The  greater  the  number  of  participating  Powers, 
the  longer  it  would  take  to  obtain  its  ratification ; 
so,  from  one  point  of  view,  it  would  be  better  in 
the  first  place  to  have  two  or  three  countries  co- 
operating than  to  have  many.  Once  such  a  Code 
were  adopted,  other  civilized  states  would  very 
soon  accept  its  provisions,  if  only  for  their  own 
protection  and  benefit. 

According  to  the  terms  of  the  Code,  the  appoint- 
ment of  Judges  or  permanent  arbitrators  would  then 
be  made,  in  either  of  the  ways  already  referred  to 
under  that  head.  Upon  the  terms  of  the  Code 
would  also  depend  the  method  by  which  the  Court, 
thus  constituted,  could  give  effect  to  its  decisions. 
Probably  the  same  system  would  be  adopted  as 
that  which  prevailed  in  state  law  before  the  present 
elaborate  system  had  been  perfected;  that  is  to 
say,  the  Court  would  give  its  decision,  and  on  the 
complaint  of  one  of  the  parties  that  the  terms  of 
the  decision  had  not  been  complied  with,  the  Court 
would  take  steps  to  investigate  the  matter,  and,  if 
the  complaint  were  justified  by  the  facts,  would 


ITS  THIRD  CLAUSE.  131 

then  inform  the  Heads  of  the  Governments  of  the 
"high  contracting  parties"  to  the  Code  that,  ac- 
cording to  the  terms  of  that  Code,  it  had  become 
their  duty  to  enforce  the  Court's  decision,  and  that, 
if  necessary,  they  should  immediately  use  their 
land  and  naval  forces  for  that  purpose. 

Thus,  if  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  and  the  Colonies,  Sweden  and  Norway,  Hol- 
land, some  other  Continental  Powers,  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  Japan  and  Mexico,  were  the 
"  high  contracting  parties"  in  question,  and  in  a 
dispute  between  Mexico  and  Japan  the  former 
country  refused  to  obey  the  order  of  the  Court 
thereupon,  the  Court  would  notify  the  Queen  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  heads  of  the  other  states 
concerned  (representing  for  the  nonce  the  "  county 
sheriffs"  of  some  countries),  that  it  had  become 
their  duty  to  give  effect  to  the  decision  of  the 
Court.  It  would  then  rest  with  them  to  decide  by 
which  of  the  means  already  recognized  by  interna- 
tional law  this  could  be  done  in  the  most  effective 
and  most  humane  manner. 

In  the  unlikely  event  that  Mexico,  in  this  case, 
would  remain  obdurate,  it  would  by  no  means  fol- 
low that  war  would  have  to  be  declared  against 
her :  war  would  only  result  if  Mexico  herself  were 
foolish  enough  to  declare  for  it,  and  in  that  event 


132  WORLD  POLITICS. 

the  penalty  for  resisting  the  law  by  force  would  be 
severe — a  penalty  determined  by  the  Court  accord- 
ing to  the  provisions  of  the  Code. 

Violence  could  only  result  from  resistance — a 
fact  of  very  great  consequence.  Other  methods 
have  for  long  been  employed,  and  would  doubtless 
be  employed  again  in  an  emergency  like  the  one 
under  consideration.  An  embargo  suspending 
commerce  with  the  offending  nation,  or  a  pacific 
blockade  of  the  nation's  ports,  such  as  that  main- 
tained in  1827  on  the  coasts  of  Greece  and  very 
frequently  since  then  in  other  cases;  these  and 
other  more  peaceful  methods  could  be  resorted  to, 
and  would  probably  prove  sufficient  to  compel  obe- 
dience to  the  behests  of  the  law.  But  once  the 
"  strong  arm"  were  known  to  be  ready,  it  would 
rarely  have  to  be  used,  and  self-respecting  nations 
would  in  any  case  be  law-abiding. 

Ultimately — no  matter  how  far  off  that  day  may 
be — when  the  large  majority  of  the  civilized  nations 
will  have  united  in  acceding  to  the  then  existing 
Code  of  International  Law,  though  discord  and 
strife  will  by  no  means  have  left  the  earth,  there 
will  be  one  law  for  the  weak  and  the  strong  alike 
among  nations— at  least  to  the  same  extent  that  it 
may  now  be  said  that  the  same  law  protects  both 
the -rich  and  the  poor  in  properly  governed  com- 
munities. 


ITS  THIRD  CLAUSE.  133 

By  then  the  employment  of  force  will  doubtless 
have  been  reduced  to  a  minimum,  though  it  will 
still  have  to  be  used  occasionally ;  for  just  as  the 
civilized  majority  in  any  state  is  obliged  to  pro- 
tect itself  against  the  uncivilized  minority,  so  the 
majority  of  the  nations  will  perhaps  find  it  neces- 
sary to  defend  themselves  occasionally  against 
the  encroachments  of  marauding  barbarians  (from 
near  or  far).  Small  standing  armies  and  navies 
will  probably  have  to  be  maintained  by  each  of  the 
states,  in  proportion  to  their  total  population,  in 
order  to  preserve  order  within  their  own  territories 
as  well  as  to  act  as  the  executive  arm  of  the  Inter- 
national Court.  But  these  forces  will  not  stand  in 
constant  readiness  to  act  against  each  other  as  they 
do  at  present.  They  will  still  be  national;  they 
will  remain  under  the  control  of  their  own  Govern- 
ments ;  but  it  will  be  their  duty  to  co-operate  for 
the  preservation  of  order,  should  the  occasion  arise, 
as  the  police  of  different  cities  and  even  of  different 
nations  already  co-operate  in  the  prevention  and 
punishment  of  crime. 

For  this  reason  their  number  would  not  need  to 
be  large ;  for  if  only  one  in  every  thousand  of  the 
population  of  Europe  and  America  were  to  belong 
to  these  standing  forces,  they  could  collectively 
control  the  hordes  of  China  if  called  upon  to  do  so 
as  International  Police. 


134  WORLD  POLITICS. 

However  remote  such  a  relatively  ideal  condition 
of  things  may  seem  to  be,  it  would  involve  no 
greater  development  than  that  which  has  taken 
place  in  England  during  the  past  four  hundred 
years ;  and  the  world  moves  far  more  rapidly  to- 
day than  it  did  formerly.  There  is  now  a  much 
closer  union  between  London  and  San  Francisco 
than  there  was  between  London  and  Edinburgh 
four  hundred  years  ago.  Evolution  is  constant, 
but  its  pace  varies ;  and  once  its  stages  have  been 
traversed,  they  can  be  repeated  on  a  larger  scale  in 
an  astonishingly  brief  period. 

Darwin  produced  species  of  pigeons  in  a  few 
years  that  centuries  could  not  have  produced  with- 
out the  assistance  of  his  guiding  mind ;  and  when 
men  come  to  realize  the  goal  toward  which  inter- 
national affairs  are  wending,  when  they  appreciate 
the  laws  that  govern  the  progress  of  nations,  they 
will,  like  Darwin,  deliberately  repeat  in  a  very 
short  time,  on  an  international  scale,  what  it  has 
taken  centuries  to  produce  on  a  smaller  scale  in 
ignorance  of  the  process  taking  place. 

The  future,  however,  as  said  already,  will  largely 
take  care  of  itself.  What  will  not  take  care  of  itself, 
what  imperiously  calls  for  attention,  is  the  present 
moment  and  the  duty  of  that  moment.  If  from 
moment  to  moment  the  right  step  be  taken,  all 
will  go  well.     The  past  and  the  future  can  be  use- 


ITS  THIRD  CLAUSE.  135 

fully  considered  in  so  far  as  they  throw  light  upon 
this  next  step,  and,  in  the  domain  of  international 
activity,  both  past  and  future  point  to  the  urgent 
need  of  holding  a  Convention  of  representatives  of 
the  nations  to  consider  the  condition  of  what  now 
passes  current  as  International  Law. ' 

*  See  Note  G.,  on  "  Sully  and  Kant.  '* 


CHAPTEE  XVI. 

Some  Possible  Objections. 

It  will  possibly  be  objected  that  the  enactment 
of  international  laws  by  nations  would  interfere 
with  the  freedom  of  action  of  nations,  considered 
in  their  separate  character.  Exactly  the  same  ob- 
jection has  been  made,  by  some  writers,  to  the 
enactment  of  state  laws :  they  would  rather  leave 
men  free  to  do  whatever  they  like.  This  is  an  old 
question;  it  has  been  thrashed  out  till  there  is 
nothing  left  of  it  but  a  damaged  note  of  interroga- 
tion. 

If  people  will  ask  themselves  how  they  would 
have  liked  to  live  in  a  country  devoid  of  law  and  of 
order,  where  evil  was  unrestrained,  where  the  strong 
ruled  the  weak  and  the  strongest  ruled  the  strong, 
they  may  reach  a  practical  solution  of  the  problem, 
apart  from  philosophical  argument.  Let  it  not  be 
forgotten,  however,  that  any  such  objection  as  that 
suggested  at  once  raises  the  further  question,  Y/hat 
is  Freedom?  License  is  not  liberty ;  disorder  docs 
not  favour  growth:  animals  with  social  instincts 
have  learned  that  much.     In  the  words  of  Hegel : 


SOME  POSSIBLE  OBJECTIONS.  137 

"Limitation  is  certainly  produced  by  Society 
and  the  State,  but  it  is  a  limitation  of  the  mere 
brute  emotions  and  rude  instincts;  as  also,  in  a 
more  advanced  stage  of  culture,  of  the  premedi- 
tated self-will  of  caprice  and  passion.  This  kind 
of  constraint  is  part  of  the  instrumentality  by 
which  only  the  Consciousness  of  Freedom  and  the 
desire  for  its  attainment,  in  its  true— that  is  Ea- 
tional  and  Ideal— form,  can  be  obtained.  To  the 
Ideal  of  Freedom,  Law  and  Morality  are  indispens- 
ably requisite.   .  .  ." ' 

No  man  is  free  who  violates  natural  (universal) 
law,  because  its  violation  means  that  he  is  seized 
by  it,  and  becomes  the  slave  of  the  penalties  in- 
volved in  his  own  deed. 

In  conformity  with  natural  law  man  enacts  hu- 

'  Philosophy  of  History,  Introduction,  III. ,  3,  translated  by 
J.  Sibree.  In  Herbert  Spencer's  article  on  "Evolutionary 
Ethics, "  in  Appleton'a  Popular  Science  Monthly  for  February, 
1898  (to  which  reference  is  made  in  Note  C. ,  on  "  The  Morality 
of  the  Evolutionary  Process"),  he  says,  speaking  of  his  own 
teaching  :  "  I  am  not  aware  that  any  one  has  more  emphat- 
ically asserted  that  society  in  its  corporate  capacity  must  ex- 
ercise a  rigorous  control  over  its  individual  members,  to  the 
extent  needful  for  preventing  trepasses  one  upon  another. 
No  one  has  more  frequently  or  strongly  denounced  govern- 
ments for  the  laxity  with  which  they  fulfil  this  duty.  So 
far  from  being,  as  some  have  alleged,  an  advocacy  of  the 
claims  of  the  strong  against  the  weak,  it  is  much  more  an 
insistence  that  the  weak  shall  be  guarded  against  the  strong, 
so  that  they  may  suffer  no  greater  evils  than  their  relative 
weakness  itself  involves. " 


138  WORLD  POLITICS. 

man  laws,  and  to  these  lie  should  likewise  con- 
form, for  it  is  their  object  to  protect  the  rights  and 
preserve  the  liberties  of  himself  and  his  fellows; 
and  if  existing  laws  do  not  succeed  in  this,  then 
it  is  for  him  to  alter  them,  so  that  they  may  be- 
come more  truly  representative  of  freedom:  for 
without  law,  freedom  is  impossible. 

In  a  community  of  perfect  men — if  such  be  con- 
ceivable— human  law  would  doubtless  be  unneces- 
sary, for  each  member  of  the  community  would  be 
wise  as  well  as  good,  and,  knowing  the  nature  of 
the  universe,  would  express  in  all  his  acts  the  ideal 
of  law.  But  until  humanity  becomes  perfect  we 
shall  have  to  put  up  with  make-shifts  in  the  place 
of  perfect  men,  and  must,  at  the  least,  place  some 
restraint  upon  positive  wrong-doing.  This  is  the 
conclusion  arrived  at  even  by  certain  races  other- 
wise savage;  and  the  more  civilized  a  state  be- 
comes, the  more  fully  does  it  recognize  that  re- 
straint of  evil-doing  is  necessary,  that  rights  have 
to  be  protected,  liberties  preserved. 

That  which  applies  to  individuals  applies  to  na- 
tions. The  small  restraints  imposed  by  the  nations 
upon  themselves  by  the  enactment  of  international 
laws  would  ensure  freedom,  and  could  never  detract 
from  it. 

If,  however,  it  should  be  argued  with  brutal 
frankness    (also  with  some  disregard  for  facts). 


SOME  POSSIBLE  OBJECTIONS.  139 

**  We  are  a  great  Power ;  we  are  strong  enough  to 
get  our  own  way  in  any  circumstances,  and  need 
not  care  about  justice  so  long  as  we  can  do  what  we 
choose" — it  may  be  suggested  that  "great  Powers" 
are  liable  to  be  met  and  even  to  be  overcome  by 
combinations  of  other  Powers,  and  that  it  would 
be  well  to  insure  against  that  possibility  by  using 
some  of  a  country's  strength,  while  it  has  it,  in  es- 
tablishing justice  on  a  firm  basis,  and  by  enacting 
laws  which  will  prevent  the  unwarrantable  subjec- 
tion of  the  weak  by  the  strong.  Life  insurance  is 
thought  well  of  by  most  business  people. 

Another  objection,  sure  to  be  raised,  is  that  law, 
a  central  tribunal  and  so  forth,  would  tend  to 
weaken  if  not  to  destroy  patriotism.  But  again 
definition  is  important.  For  what  is  patriotism? 
Is  it  a  love  of  the  best  in  one's  country — a  love  of 
one's  country  because,  whether  rightly  or  wrongly, 
one  believes  it  to  be  the  best?  Or  is  it  a  love  of 
one's  country  simply  because  it  is  one's  own? 
And  if  the  latter  is  the  case,  as  it  generally  is, 
should  our  love  compel  us  to  defy  morality  and 
justice  on  our  country's  behalf,  or  should  we  de- 
sire to  see  it  conform  to  right  principle  and  to 
the  exigencies  of  universal  law,  if  only  for  its  own 
safety  and  well-being? 

A  contributor  to  the  literature  on  this  subject,  a 


140  WORLD  POLITICS. 

vehement  defender  of  patriotism,  has  sought  to 
strengthen  his  position  by  asking  why,  if  it  may 
be  said  morally,  "My  mother,  right  or  wrong!", 
"  My  country,  right  or  wrong !"  is  not  an  equally 
moral  exclamation. 

Taking  this  as  an  unequivocal  declaration  of 
what  passes  for  patriotic  sentiment,  it  would  seem 
all  the  more  evident  that  while  we  support  the 
mother,  "  right  or  wrong, "  we  should  desire  her  to 
go  right  and  to  keep  right ;  and  that  we  should  use 
our  utmost  influence  with  that  in  view  for  the  very 
reason  that  we  love  her  best  of  all.  The  more  ar- 
dent the  patriot,  the  more  anxious  he  should  be  to 
see  his  country  one  of  the  first  to  adapt  itself  to 
changed  conditions  and  to  the  needs  of  the  hour. 
If  he  can  go  no  further  than  to  admit  that  honesty 
is  the  best  policy  in  the  long  run,  he  should  en- 
deavour to  induce  his  country  to  act  accordingly. 
If,  furthermore,  he  follows  the  evolution  of  state 
law,  and  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  the  next  step 
for  the  more  highly  civilized  nations  to  take  is  co- 
operation in  the  enactment  of  international  laws, 
his  patriotism  alone  should  impel  him  to  try  to 
make  his  own  country  (as  the  most  civilized  from 
his  point  of  view)  the  first  to  support  the  move- 
ment. 

Would  he  thereby  become  less  patriotic?     One 
might  as  reasonably  ask  whether  the  enactment  of 


SOME  POSSIBLE  OBJECTIONS.  141 

laws  by  individuals,  and  their  conformity  thereto, 
is  apt  to  make  them  dangerously  unselfish !  The 
objection  is  in  fact  absurd.  To  join  with  others  in 
some  legislative  undertaking  gives  rise  at  the  most 
to  a  feeling  of  clannishness  among  the  participants, 
but  one  finds  that  the  members  of  the  clan  are  in 
no  great  haste  to  give  way  to  each  other ;  they  de- 
sire to  see  themselves  and  their  immediate  coterie 
first  and  foremost  in  the  association. 

It  would  be  the  same  with  nations  taking  part  in 
this  wider  movement,  and  with  the  individuals 
composing  those  nations;  though  one  may  hope 
that  in  the  course  of  time  the  patriotic  sentiments 
of  individuals  would  find  vent  in  striving  to  make 
their  country  great  in  its  mental  and  moral  develop- 
ment, healthy  in  mind  and  body,  rather  than  a  first 
class  rough-and-tumble  fighter  among  the  nations, 
with  morals  nowhere  and  mind  cultivated  for  offen- 
sive and  defensive  purposes  only. 

Law  among  nations  would  immensely  increase 
patriotism,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word.  It  could 
never  diminish  it. 

Quite  a  different  kind  of  objection  may  be  put 
forward  by  those  who  would  have  peace  at  any 
price,  and  who  look  upon  the  exercise  of  force  by 
one  nation  upon  another  as  wholly  evil. 

The    question   is   whether  they  would  abolish 


142  WORLD  POLITICS. 

State  law  altogether,  or  whether  they  would,  on  the 
other  hand,  uphold  State  law  and  countenance  the 
use  of  force  in  its  support.  It  is  well  to  be  con- 
sistent in  such  matters.  It  is  also  well  to  remem- 
ber that  to  use  force  for  one's  own  personal  protec- 
tion is  one  thing,  and  that  to  use  it  for  the  protection 
of  the  weak  and  the  oppressed  is  quite  another.  To 
use  force  for  the  last-named  purpose  is,  in  princi- 
ple, the  same  thing  as  to  use  it  in  order  to  uphold 
law  and  order. 

One  can  cordially  sympathize  with  those  who 
set  an  enormous  value  on  peace  and  who  strive  by 
every  means  in  their  power  to  promote  ito  The 
barbarous  brutality  of  war  can  never  be  sufficiently 
emphasized.  In  the  remote  future,  when  it  has 
become  a  subject  for  historical  research,  along  with 
gladiatorial  combats  and  human  sacrifices,  its  in- 
iquities should  still  be  held  up  as  a  warning  to  the 
human  race.  To  say  that  it  never  produces  any- 
thing but  evil,  however,  would  give  the  lie  to  the 
lessons  of  nature,  for  good  does  come  out  of  evil, 
though  evil  is  always  left  behind  in  the  process. 
But  to  admit  a  percentage  of  good  in  a  mass  of  evil 
is  not  to  endorse  the  evil,  and  the  most  violent 
partisans  of  war  can  scarcely  deny  the  overwhelm  - 
ing  blessings  of  peace. 

How  best  to  promote  it  is  the  question  then,  and 
the  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  solution  of  the 


SOME  POSSIBLE  OBJECTIONS.  143 

same  problem  by  and  as  between  individuals.  It 
is  not  sufficient  to  preach  and  to  teach.  Practical 
effect  must  be  given  to  the  ethical  ideal ;  and  in  the 
present  state  of  civilization,  no  matter  what  the 
future  may  bring  forth,  the  best  and  most  practical 
public  expression  of  the  ethical  ideal  is  to  be  found 
in  legislation,  by  nations  as  by  individuals. 

Some  people,  judging  hastily,  may  say  that  the 
proposal  in  general  is  good  enough  as  a  theory, 

but .     The  rest  will  not  be  defined  in  words, 

for  the  average  Anglo-Saxon  mind  has  a  vast  dis- 
trust of  theories,  so  vast  and  so  deep-seated  that 
the  mere  suspicion  of  one  produces  a  clammy 
silence,  not  to  be  overcome.  The  people  of  Great 
Britain  and  of  the  United  States  alike  pride  them- 
selves on  being  a  commercial  race,  practical  and 
not  theoretical.  Progress  cannot  be  made  to  order, 
it  is  said ;  it  must  result  from  the  slow  pushing  of 
events. 

All  of  which  is  excellent,  so  far  as  it  goes.  Such 
an  attitude  of  mind  is  at  least  a  safeguard  against 
experimental  visionaries.  But  the  foundation  in 
reason  for  such  an  attitude  is  that  experience 
should  be  the  guide  of  conduct,  not  theory ;  or  that 
theory  should  in  any  case  be  most  strictly  checked 
by  the  facts  of  experience ;  and  as  the  measure  now 
proposed  does  not  depend  upon  either  theory  or 


144  WORLD  POLITICS. 

experience  alone,  but  upon  either  apart  from  the 
other,  or  upon  both  jointly,  it  should  come  up  to 
the  standard  of  the  most  practical  person's  require- 
ments, particularly  as  events  seem  to  have  conspired 
to  precipitate  its  accomplishment. 

Simplicity  of  appeal  counts  for  much  with  most 
people,  especially  with  traders,  and  to  the  trader  it 
may  be  said  with  sufficient  directness:  You  as  a 
trader  know  that  it  is  necessary  in  your  business 
to  live  in  the  midst  of  law  and  order.  You  could 
not  get  along  without  law  in  your  own  country ;  it 
has  become  necessary  to  your  existence.  There  is 
no  international  law,  and  there  ought  to  be,  for  you 
are  concerned  in  the  commerce  of  all  nations ;  and 
if  you  have  managed  to  get  along  in  the  past  with- 
out it,  somehow,  your  experience  at  home  proves 
how  much  better  you  would  get  along  with  it.  It 
follows  that  you  should  use  the  whole  of  your 
influence,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  to  have  a 
Conference  called  to  discuss  the  matter ;  and  that 
you  should  see  to  it  that  the  right  steps  are  taken 
by  the  national  representatives  to  improve  the 
present  state  of  affairs. 


CHAPTEK   XYH. 

Conclusion. 

If  it  can  be  shown  in  answer  to  the  objection 
already  referred  to — the  off-hand  condemnation  of 
the  measure  in  question  as  Utopian  and  impossible 
of  fulfilment — that  virtually  no  sacrifice  of  "per- 
sonal interest"  to  the  interest  of  the  whole  will  be 
required  in  order  to  give  it  effect,  while  more  than 
"adequate  inducement  in  the  shape  of  personal 
interest"  can  be  offered,  even  Bentham's  utilitarian- 
ism would  pronounce  the  proposition  as  not  only 
practicable,  but  as  practically  irresistible. 

Nations  are  now  governed  by  the  mass  of  their 
population.  That  is  self-evident.  The  great  ear 
of  the  peoples  is  sometimes  slow  in  hearing ;  their 
voice  pauses  long  before  it  proclaims  their  will; 
but  nothing  can  withstand  the  inevitable  hour  of 
their  awakening,  and  when  they  move  the  whole 
world  moves  with  them.  It  is  the  same  in  small 
matters  as  in  great. 

What,  then,  would  the  individuals  composing  a 

nation  have  to  sacrifice  in  the  way  of  personal  in- 
10 


146  WORLD  POLITICS. 

terest  in  the  event  of  international  legislation  taking 
place?  Neither  money  nor  liberty,  neither  pleas- 
ure nor  comfort !  At  the  most,  they  would  have  to 
repress  a  certain  brute  ferocity,  which  exists  in 
most  people,  and  which  occasionally  urges  them  to 
rebel  against  civilization  and  morality,  and  to  join 
the  wild  beasts  in  satisfying  their  desire  for  pos- 
session or  vengeance  at  any  cost.  But  these  desires 
do  not  frequently  obsess  a  nation,  and  restraint 
at  such  a  time  would  generally  be  acknowledged 
gratefully  after  the  crisis  had  passed.  Looking 
forward  to  such  possibilities  in  cold  blood,  it  is  no 
sacrifice  to  provide  against  them ;  still  less  is  it  a 
sacrifice  to  provide  against  the  possible  running 
amuck  of  other  nations. 

As  to  the  positive  advantages,  the  "  adequate  in- 
ducement in  the  shape  of  personal  interest"  offered 
by  the  system  in  question,  it  is  hoped  that  every 
preceding  chapter  will  have  demonstrated  that  7io 
one  could  fail  to  reap  the  advantages ;  that  noth- 
ing but  abnormal  stupidity  could  leave  the  induce- 
ments unrecognized.  Its  adoption  would  mean 
the  further  security  of  liberty,  the  further  pro- 
tection of  rights. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  humblest  individual 
in  a  nation  is  directly  affected  by  its  foreign  rela- 
tions ;  more  than  that,  that  strife  between  distant 
countries  may  affect  his  personal  interests  disas- 


CONCLUSION.  147 

trously — that,  in  short,  interdependence  is  not  an 
hypothesis,  but  is  a  living  reality. 

So  the  humblest  individual  is  concerned  in  the 
security  of  commerce,  the  safeguarding  of  food 
supplies,  the  lessening  of  taxation,  the  better  in- 
surance against  the  losses,  financial  and  mortal, 
entailed  by  war — war  with  its  horrors  of  famine, 
fire,  pestilence,  and  rape,  even  apart  from  its 
bloodshed.  He  is  concerned  in  these  things  not 
only  for  his  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  those  who 
are  near  and  dear  to  him.  And  he  must  surely 
see  that  international  legislation  would  protect  and 
benefit  him  in  all  these  several  ways ;  that  it  is  the 
right  thing,  the  next  step  to  be  taken  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  civilized  nations,  which  means  that,  once 
taken,  it  would  redound  to  his  own  happiness,  to 
the  happiness  of  his  countrymen,  and  to  that  of 
the  world  as  a  whole. 

Perhaps  he  will  see  yet  deeper ;  perhaps  he  will 
see  that  it  is  in  the  heart  and  soul  of  things  that 
this  thing  shall  be  done;  and  perhaps  in  the  si- 
lence of  his  own  heart  he  will  hear  himself  saying, — 
Fes,  we  are  dependent  upon  each  other;  we  are 
not  separate.  Nor  do  I  care  how  this  thing  may 
benefit  me.  It  will  benefit  my  country  and  every 
member  of  the  human  race.  It  is  the  inevitable 
outcome  of  evolution ;  it  is  a  step  to  be  taken ;  and 
it  will  be  necessary  for  but  two  or  three  nations  to 


148  WORLD  POLITICS. 

take  it  together  to  make  it  an  accomplished  fact. 
And  I  will  work  to  help  it  forward,  will  work  for 
the  freedom,  the  protection,  the  happiness  of  men 
and  women  and  children  who  need  my  help.  This 
way  I  can  help  them  in  the  mass,  enduringly.  A 
new  initiative  is  needed  to  give  strength  and  hope 
to  the  nations ;  and  the  Will  of  the  people  must  be 
aroused  from  its  slumber  of  years.  I  will  do  my 
part  in  arousing  that  giant  Will,  by  word  and 
deed,  that  the  initiative  may  be  given  for  which 
the  people  wait.  I,  cost  what  it  may,  will  see 
what  one  man  can  do  among  millions,  how  an  in- 
finitesimal part  can  affect  the  whole  to  its  remotest 
borders,  so  that  among  races  yet  unborn  there  may 
be  less  of  suffering  and  sorrow,  more  of  happiness 
and  peace. 

So,  perhaps,  some  will  find  themselves  thinking. 
They  may  do  as  much  and  more  than  they  think. 
But  to  many  it  will  scarcely  occur  that  they,  so  in- 
significant, can  do  more  than  contribute  a  vague 
and  general  approval,  supposing  that  they  go  so  far 
as  that. 

This  is  one  of  the  great  barriers  to  the  further 
evolution  of  the  race :  that  individuals  do  not  be- 
lieve in  and  therefore  cannot  exercise  their  own 
power.  "  What  is  one  among  so  many  ?"— the  uni- 
versal excuse  for  inaction,  for  knock-kneed  and  de- 
grading ineptitude.     The  world  may  be  said  to  re- 


CONCLUSION.  149 

volve  on  an  atom:  is  man  less  than  an  atom?  Too 
often  he  acts  as  if  he  thought  so,  refusing  to  be- 
lieve that  he  has  any  actual  voice  in  the  government 
of  his  own  country,  still  less  in  the  destinies  of  for- 
eign states. 

Man  continually  forgets  that  he  occupies  the 
proud  position  of  being  called  a  Man,  and  perhaps 
does  not  know  that  this  word  is  derived  from  a 
Sanscrit  root  which  means  to  think.  Whether  he 
happens  to  know  this  or  not,  he  stands  in  constant 
danger  of  passing  a  most  inglorious  existence. 
His  sense  of  responsibility  is  dormant;  but, 
worst  of  all,  he  does  not  believe  in  himself. 
Man's  greatest  sin  to-day  is  his  lack  of  faith  in 
man. 

Sometimes  he  claims  to  believe  that  God  made 
him  in  His  own  image  and  breathed  into  him  the 
breath  of  life — the  same  breath  of  fire  and  power 
that  brought  the  worlds  into  being.  With  this 
belief  too  lightly  attached  to  the  outskirts  of  his 
consciousness,  he  says,  "What  am  I  among  so 
many?"  An  abortion,  God  might  have  to  answer; 
make  the  best  of  yourself  at  that !  And  if  he  likes 
to  classify  himself  among  the  abortions,  he  must 
be  left  there  till  a  merciful  Providence  removes 
him.  But  if  not,  then  let  him  arise  and  claim  his 
birthright,  let  him  exercise  his  divine  powers,  let 
him  make  his  voice  heard  and  his  deeds  speak 


150  WORLD  POLITICS. 

among  the  people  who  are  his  companions  on  life's 
pilgrimage. 

Sometimes,  on  the  other  hand,  he  claims  to  be 
the  product  of  millions  of  years  of  evolution, — he, 
a  man,  the  flower  of  it  all.  Are  the  labours  of 
aeons  to  result  in  this  puerile  cry,  "What  am  I 
among  so  many?"  Is  the  struggle  for  existence  to 
leave  him  a  thing  without  power,  part  of  the  refuse 
left  by  the  wayside  on  the  world's  grand  march? 
Would  he  revert  to  the  protoplasmic  mass  from 
which  he  believes  he  came?  If  not,  let  him  re- 
member that  inactivity  means  loss  of  function,  and 
that  if  he  would  preserve  his  powers  he  must  use 
them. 

Sometimes  he  claims  to  be  the  exfoliation  of  a 
universal  divine  Spirit,  itself  the  container  of  all 
potencies ;  that  he  is  a  miniature  of  the  universe 
around  him,  with  lightnings  playing  through  his 
body,  with  thoughts  in  his  mind  that  are  the 
thoughts  of  the  soul  of  Nature.  Must  he,  believ- 
ing that  there  exist  within  himself  illimitable 
and  undreamed-of  possibilities,  join  with  others  in 
their  feeble  cry,  and  thus  belittle  his  own  ori- 
gin and  resist  his  own  destiny?  If  not,  let  him 
work  with  the  gods  for  the  upbuilding  of  the 
future. 

Whichever  way  he  may  think,  let  him  act  ac- 
cordingly ;  let  him  be  true  to  his  belief  and  to  him- 


CONCLUSION.  151 

self;  let  him  remember  that  he  has  duties  as  well 
as  rights. 

A  dozen  determined  men,  believing  in  themselves 
and  their  mission,  can  mould  the  thought  of  the 
age  in  which  they  live.  One  man  has  done  it  be- 
fore now.  Four  men  revolutionized  the  thought  of 
the  English-speaking  world  in  less  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century.  These  may  be  exceptional  cases, 
both  of  men  and  of  missions,  but  the  humblest-and 
least  of  men,  able  to  make  one  simple  fact  his  own, 
must  come  in  time  to  understand  that  he  and  his 
fact  between  them  may  constitute  a  world-moving 
power;  and  when  not  only  the  men  and  the  thought 
are  ready,  but  the  time  is  ripe  for  the  doing  of 
the  deed,  then  nothing  can  withstand  a  movement 
which  great  nature  has  made  her  own. 

Whether  the  conclusions  put  forward  in  this 
brochure  be  approved  or  disapproved,  they  should 
not  be  devoid  of  interest,  if  only  because  they 
will  be  made  national  political  issues  in  most  of  the 
leading  European  countries  and  in  the  United  States 
of  America  within  the  next  few  years. 

This  may  seem  an  idle  boast  and  an  empty 
prophecy ;  but  nothing  could  be  gained  by  deliber- 
ately forecasting  such  an  event  if  overwhelming 
probability  did  not  point  to  its  occurrence. 

There  has  been  in  existence  for  some  time  past  a 


152  WORLD  POLITICS. 

private  body,  with  a  membership  scattered  through- 
out the  world,  working  to  bring  this  about.  The 
members  of  this  organization  will  not  reveal  their 
connection  with  it,  but  those  who  know  them  know 
that  their  influence  is  sufficient  to  guarantee  that 
the  matter  shall  be  submitted  to  the  people. 

"  To  every  thing  there  is  a  season,  and  a  time  to 
every  purpose  under  the  heaven  ...  a  time  to 
keep  silence,  and  a  time  to  speak."  Ten  years 
ago  no  public  step  of  this  sort  could  have  been 
taken  advantageously,  but  such  rapid  strides  have 
been  made  since  then  in  the  lives  of  nations  that 
conditions  are  at  last  ripe  for  a  far-reaching  prop- 
aganda. 

As  success  in  these  issues  depends  upon  the  ac- 
tion of  people  in  the  mass,  it  is  to  the  people  of 
every  class  and  race  that  this  preliminary  appeal 
is  made,  that  they  may  use  their  power  and  insist 
that  principles  of  right  shall  govern  the  councils 
of  nations,  and  that  an  International  Convention 
shall  be  called  to  consider  how  this  may  best  be 
done.^ 

^  See  Note  H. ,  on  "  The  English-Speaking  Peoples  " ;  see 
also  at  the  end  of  this  volume  an  Addendum  in  regard  to  the 
communication  of  August  27th,  1898,  from  the  Czar  of  Rus- 
sia to  the  Powers. 


NOTES. 


NOTE  A. 

(From  p.  40.) 
A  Nation  an  Okganism. 

The  views  of  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  on  this  sub- 
ject have  been  admirably  summarized  by  Mr. 
Howard  Collins  in  his  Epitome  of  the  Synthetic 
Philosophy,  pp.  389  to  391.  Dealing  with  the  In- 
ductions of  Sociology,  under  the  heading  "  What  is 
a  Nation?",  Mr.  Collins  says : 

"  212.  A  society  is  an  entity ;  for,  though  formed 
of  discrete  units,  a  certain  concreteness  in  the  ag- 
gregate of  them  is  implied  by  the  general  persist- 
ence of  the  arrangements  among  them  throughout 
the  area  occupied. 

"  213.  The  attributes  of  a  society  being  like  those 
of  a  living  body,  the  reasons  have  now  to  be  con- 
sidered for  asserting  that  the  permanent  relations 
among  the  parts  of  a  society,  are  analogous  to  the 
permanent  relations  among  the  parts  of  a  living 
body." 

Under  the  heading  "  A  Society  is  an  Organism, " 
the  author  continues : 

"214.  The  first  trait  for  regarding  a  society 
as  an  organism,  is  that  it  undergoes  continuous 
growth. 


156  WORLD  POLITICS. 

"  215.  As  a  society  grows,  its  parts  become  un- 
like :  it  exhibits  increase  of  structure. 

"  216.  This  community  will  be  more  fully  appre- 
ciated on  observing  that  progressive  differentiation 
of  social  structures  is  accompanied  by  progressive 
differentiation  of  social  functions. 

"217.  The  functions  are  not  simply  different, 
but  their  differences  are  so  related  as  to  make  one 
another  possible.  This  reciprocal  aid  causes  mu- 
tual dependence  of  the  parts.  And  the  mutually- 
dependent  parts,  living  by  and  for  one  another, 
form  an  aggregate  constituted  on  the  same  general 
principle  as  is  an  individual  organism.  In  respect 
of  the  *  physiological  division  of  labour '  a  social 
organism  and  an  individual  organism  are  entirely 
alike. 

"218.  How  the  combined  actions  of  mutually- 
dependent  parts  constitute  life  of  the  whole,  and 
how  there  hence  results  a  parallelism  between  so- 
cial life  and  animal  life,  we  see  still  more  clearly 
on  learning  that  the  life  of  every  visible  organism 
is  constituted  by  the  lives  of  units  too  minute  to  be 
seen  by  the  unaided  eye.  On  seeing  this,  there  is 
less  difficulty  in  regarding  a  nation  of  human  beings 
as  an  organism. 

"  219.  The  relation  between  the  lives  of  the  units 
and  the  life  of  the  aggregate  has  a  further  charac- 
ter common  to  the  two  cases.  By  a  catastrophe 
the  life  of  the  aggregate  may  be  destroyed  without 
immediately  destroying  the  lives  of  all  its  units; 


NOTES.  157 

while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  no  catastrophe  abridges 
it,  the  life  of  the  aggregate  is  far  longer  than  the 
lives  of  its  units. 

"  The  life  of  the  whole  is  quite  unlike  the  lives 
of  the  units;  though  it  is  a  life  produced  by 
them." 

[This  last  statement  is  true  only  when  the  "  units" 
are  simple  cells,  and  even  then  more  recent  investi- 
gations have  proved  that  unicellular  organisms  are 
creatures  of  far  greater  complexity  than  was  for- 
merly supposed.] 

"  220.  From  these  likenesses  between  the  social 
organism  and  the  individual  organism,  we  must 
turn  to  an  extreme  unlikeness.  The  parts  of  an 
animal  form  a  concrete  whole ;  but  the  parts  of  a 
society  form  a  whole  which  is  discrete.  While  the 
living  units  composing  the  one  are  bound  together 
in  close  contact,  the  living  units  composing  the 
other  are  free,  are  not  in  contact,  and  are  more  or 
less  widely  dispersed." 

[At  the  time  when  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  wrote  his 
Principles  of  Sociology,  physiological  science  may 
have  held  that  the  living  units  composing  an  ani- 
mal form  were  "bound  together  inclose  contact," 
but  modern  experts  entertain  views  which  would 
have  enabled  Mr.  Spencer  to  draw  a  comparison 
here  as  elsewhere,  instead  of  noting  an  apparent 
difference.  Professor  E.  J.  Marey,  for  instance, 
in  his  Animal  Mechanism  (p.  9),  said  years  ago 
that  "  From  the  invisible  atom  to  the  celestial  body 


158  WORLD  POLITICS. 

lost  in  space,  everything  is  subject  to  motion. 
Everything  gravitates  in  an  immense  or  in  an  in- 
finitely little  orbit.  Kept  at  a  definite  distance  one 
from  the  other ^  in  proportion  to  the  motion  which 
animates  them,  the  molecules  present  constant  rela- 
tions, which  they  lose  only  by  the  addition  or  the 
subtraction  of  a  certain  quantity  of  motion. "  From 
which  it  would  follow  that  the  living  units  compos- 
ing an  animal  organism  are  not  in  contact,  and  are, 
relatively  speaking,  as  free  as  the  units  composing 
a  society.] 

"221.  How,  then,  can  there  be  any  parallelism?" 
— continues  the  author  of  the  Epitome,  arguing, 
in  this  respect,  on  an  erroneous  supposition. 
"Though  discrete  instead  of  concrete  (?),  the  social 
aggregate  is  rendered  a  living  whole  by  emotional 
and  intellectual  language ;  it  is  by  this  agency  that 
the  mutual  dependence  of  parts  which  constitutes 
organization  is  effectually  established. 

"  222.  We  now  arrive  at  a  cardinal  difference  in 
the  two  kinds  of  organisms.  In  the  one,  conscious- 
ness is  concentrated  in  a  small  part  of  the  aggre- 
gate. In  the  other,  it  is  diffused  throughout  the 
aggregate :  all  the  units  possess  the  capacities  for 
happiness  and  misery  in  approximately^  equal  de- 
grees. As  there  is  no  social  sensorium,  the  welfare 
of  the  aggregate,  considered  apart  from  that  of  the 
units,  is  not  an  end  to  be  sought." 

This  "cardinal  difference,"  in  the  light  of  recent 
science,  ceases  to  be  a  difference,  and  could,  in  fact, 


NOTES.  159 

be  adduced  as  a  further  and  particularly  striking 
parallelism.  For  consciousness  in  the  animal  or- 
ganism is  not  "concentrated  in  a  small  part  of 
the  aggregate."  On  the  contrary,  it  is  diffused 
throughout  the  aggregate.  In  his  Elements  of 
Physiological  Psychology  (Part  11,  chap,  x.,  §  21), 
Professor  G.  T.  Ladd  states  that : 

"No  good  ground  exists  for  speaking  of  any 
special  organ  or  seat  of  memory.  Every  organ — 
indeed,  every  area  and  every  element — of  the  ner- 
vous system  has  its  oivn  memory,"  And  in  §  4  of  the 
same  chapter  the  Professor  shows  that  "  there  is  no 
special  organ  of  will." 

Some  physiologists  prefer  to  use  the  word  "irri- 
tability," when  speaking  of  micro-organisms,  in  the 
place  of  the  word  "consciousness";  but  this  is 
largely  a  question  of  terminology,  for  irritability 
implies  sensation,  and  sensation  is  inconceivable 
apart  from  consciousness.  "Affinity,"  again,  is 
sometimes  used  to  account  for  motion  apart  from 
consciousness ;  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  exclude 
some  elementary  form  of  desire  from  the  idea  of 
affinity. 

In  The  Psychic  Life  of  Micro- Organisms,  by 
Alfred  Binet,  some  valuable  information  is  given  in 
regard  to  this  subject,  all  of  which  goes  to  prove 
that  consciousness  in  the  animal  organism  is  dif- 
fused throughout  the  aggregate,  not  only  as  stated 
by  Professor  Ladd — in  the  sense  that  every  organ 
has  a  consciousness  of  its  own — but  to  the  extent 
of  demonstrating  that  such  seemingly  automatic 


160  WORLD  POLITICS. 

processes  as  those  cf  digestion,  assimilation,  a.i\d 
so  forth  are  the  result  of  the  action  of  micro-organ- 
isms which  perform  their  function  with  as  much 
deliberation  as  is  found  among  ants,  not  to  mention 
certain  human  beings. 

M.  Binet  says  in  his  Preface  to  the  American 
edition  (p.  iv.) : 

"The  more  closely  the  phenomena  of  life  are 
scrutinized,  and  the  more  carefully  they  are  studied 
in  their  various  aspects,  the  more  certain  does  the 
conclusion  become  that  the  processes  attributed  to 
physico-chemical  forces  in  reality  obey  much  more 
complicated  laws.  To  illustrate,  it  was  at  one  time 
conceded  that  the  phenomena  of  resorption  and  nu- 
trition were  explainable  by  diffusion  and  endos- 
mosis;  Dutrochet,  upon  his  discovery  of  endos- 
mosis,  imagined  even  that  he  had  discovered  the 
principle  of  life.  At  the  present  time  we  know  that 
the  walls  of  the  intestines  do  not  in  any  wise  act 
like  the  inanimate  membrane  used  in  experiments 
in  endosmosis.  They  are  covered  with  epithelial 
cells,  each  of  which  is  an  organism  endowed  with  a 
complex  of  properties.  The  protoplasm  of  these 
cells  lays  hold  of  food  by  an  act  of  prehension, 
exactly  as  the  ciliate  Infusoria  and  other  unicellular 
organisms  do,  that  lead  an  independent  life.  In 
the  intestines  of  cold-blooded  animals  the  cells 
emit  prolongations  which  seize  the  minute  drops 
of  fatty  matter  and,  carrying  them  into  the  proto- 
plasm of  the  cell,  convey  them  thence  into  the 
chylif active  ducts.     There  is  still  another  mode  of 


NOTES.  161 

absorption  of  fatty  matters,  met  with  among  cold- 
blooded as  well  as  warm-blooded  animals:  the 
lymphatic  cells  pass  out  from  the  adenoid  tissue 
which  contains  them,  so  that  upon  arriving  at  the 
surface  of  the  intestines  they  seize  the  particles 
of  fatty  matter  there  present  and,  laden  with 
their  prey,  make  their  way  back  to  the  lymph- 
atics. 

"  Accordingly,  the  faculty  of  seizing  food  and  of 
exercising  a  choice  among  foods  of  different  kinds 
— a  property  essentially  psychological — appertains 
to  the  anatomical  elements  of  the  tissues,  just  as  it 
does  to  all  unicellular  beings,  in  the  manner  shown 
in  our  treatise.  It  is  plainly  impossible  to  explain 
these  facts  by  the  introduction  of  physico-chemical 
forces.  They  are  the  essential  phenomena  of  life 
and  are  the  exclusive  appurtenance  of  living  proto- 
plasm. 

"  If  the  existence  of  psychological  phenomena  in 
lower  organisms  is  denied,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
assume  that  these  phenomena  can  be  superadded 
in  the  course  of  evolution,  in  proportion  as  an  or- 
ganism grows  more  perfect  and  complex.  Nothing 
could  be  more  inconsistent  with  the  teachings  of 
general  physiology,  which  shows  us  that  all  vital 
phenomena  are  previously  present  in  non-differen- 
tiated cells." 

The  past  twenty  years  have  witnessed  enormous 

strides  in  the  development  of  microscopy,  and  every 

discovery  thus  made  in  regard  to  the  constitution 

of  the  human  organism  has  emphasized  the  fact 

11 


162  WORLD  POLITICS. 

tliat  it  is  a  "society,"  and  that  to  know  the  laws 
governing  the  physical  growth  of  an  individual,  is 
to  know  the  laws  governing  the  physical  growth  of 
a  nation.  The  process  of  the  mental  and  moral 
growth  of  both  nations  and  individuals  is  still  more 
evidently  identicaL 


NOTE  B. 
(From  p.  45.) 

.Unselfishness. 

The  question  of  motive  is  not  emphasized  in  these 
pages  because  it  is  not  essential  to  the  main  argu- 
ment nor  to  the  conclusions  presented.  No  one  will 
deny  the  importance  of  right  motive.  "Enlight- 
ened selfishness,"  from  one  point  of  view,  is  a  con- 
tradiction in  terms,  and  those  who  use  the  phrase 
in  a  philosophical  sense  must  be  left  to  defend  it 
as  best  they  can. 

Quite  apart  from  the  mental  and  moral  effects  of 
wrong  motive,  selfishness,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of 
the  word,  must  disastrously  affect  the  quality  of  an 
action,  even  though  it  may  not  affect  its  direction. 
As  Emerson  says  in  his  essay  on  Experience^  "  The 
sentiment  from  which  it  sprung  determines  the 
dignity  of  any  deed,  and  the  question  ever  is,  not, 
what  you  have  done  or  forborne,  but,  at  whose 
command  you  have  done  or  forborne  it." 

Yet,  as  we  cannot  always  hope  for  both  right 
motive  and  right  action,  it  is  better  to  have  right 
action  and  wrong  or  mixed  motive,  than  the  action 
and  the  motive  alike  wrong.  The  continual  per- 
formance of  right  actions  induces  right  motive  in 
time. 


164  WORLD  POLITICS. 

Spontaneous  unselfishness  is  a  higher  develop- 
ment than  mere  right  conduct.  In  a  passage  in 
Mr.  Herbert  Spencer's  Principles  of  Ethics,  "  spon- 
taneous efforts  to  further  the  welfare  of  others" 
are  stated  to  be  the  result  of  the  evolution  of  con- 
duct. When  a  man  habitually  does  the  unselfish 
thing,  without  calculation,  he  has  then,  and  then 
only,  become  an  ideally  moral  man. 

But  although  unselfish  motive  is  frequently  met 
with  in  individuals,  and  right  conduct  still  more 
frequently,  it  is  as  yet  early  in  the  evolution  of 
nations  to  expect  more  than  rare  outbursts  of  real 
unselfishness.  One  must  agree  with  Professor 
Sidgwick  (Practical  Ethics,  p.  11) :  "  When  J.  S. 
Mill  says,  in  the  peroration  of  a  powerful  address, 
*I  do  not  attempt  to  stimulate  you  with  the  prospect 
of  direct  rewards,  either  earthly  or  heavenly ;  the 
less  we  think  about  being  rewarded  in  either  way 
the  better  for  us, '  I  think  it  is  a  hard  saying,  too 
hard  for  human  nature.  The  demand  that  happi- 
ness shall  be  connected  with  virtue  cannot  be  finally 
quelled  in  this  way" — at  least  not  so  far  as  the 
international  aspect  of  the  problem  is  concerned; 
which  does  not  alter  the  fact  that  although  Mill's 
saying  was  "hard,"  it  was  none  the  less  true. 

Selfishness  springs  from  what  has  been  called 
"the  great  heresy  of  separateness."  It  is  an  at- 
tempt to  ignore  humanity's  fundamental  unity  of 
interest ;  to  isolate  the  unit  in  the  midst  of  the  mass. 
The  impossibility  of  doing  this  and  the  fatuity  of 
attempting  it,  are  shown  in  a  later  Note. 


NOTE  C. 

(From  p.  49.) 
The  Morauty  of  the  Evolutionary  Process. 

Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  in  an  article  entitled 
"Evolutionary  Ethics,"  in  Appletoris  Popular  Sci- 
ence Monthly  for  February,  1898,  commenting  upon 
Professor  Huxley's  Komanes  Lecture,  defends  him- 
self against  "  that  brutal  individualism  which  some 
persons  ascribe"  to  him. 

"  In  a  chapter  of  the  Principles  of  Ethics  entitled 
*  Altruism  versus  Egoism, '  it  is  contended  that  from 
the  dawn  of  life  altruism  of  a  kind  (parental  altru- 
ism) has  been  as  essential  as  egoism ;  and  that  in 
the  associated  state  the  function  of  altruism  be- 
comes wider,  and  the  importance  of  it  greater,  in 
proportion  as  the  civilization  becomes  higher.  .  .  . 
Everywhere  it  is  asserted  that  the  process  of  adap- 
tation (which,  in  its  direct  and  indirect  forms,  is  a 
part  of  the  cosmic  process)  must  continuously  tend 
(under  peaceful  conditions)  to  produce  a  type  of  so- 
ciety and  a  type  of  individual  in  which  Hhe  in- 
stincts of  savagery  in  civilized  men'  will  be  not 
only  'curbed, '  but  repressed.  And  I  believe  that 
in  few,  if  any,  writings  will  be  found  as  unceasing 
a  denunciation  of  that  brute  form  of  the  struggle 
for   existence  which  has  been  going  on  between 


166  WORLD  POLITICS. 

societies,  and  which,  though  in  early  times  a  cause 
of  progress,  is  now  becoming  a  cause  of  retro- 
gression." 

Mr.  Spencer  then  cites  the  following  significant 
paragraphs  from  his  Principles  of  Ethics : 

"The  limit  of  evolution  of  conduct  is  conse- 
quently not  reached  until,  beyond  avoidance  of  di- 
rect and  indirect  injuries  to  others,  there  are  spon- 
taneous efforts  to  further  the  welfare  of  others." 

"  It  may  be  shown  that  the  form  of  nature  which 
thus  to  justice  adds  beneficence,  is  one  which  adap- 
tation to  the  social  state  produces." — §54. 


NOTE  D. 

(From  p.  58.)^ 

'Splendid  Isolation,'   or   the  Interdependence 
OF  Nations. 

A  modified  form  of  this  opposition  to  the  inter- 
national application  of  sound  principle,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  "  splendid  isolation"  theory,  which  is 
becoming  the  curse  of  the  British  and  American 
nations.  As  a  policy  it  may  be  accounted  for,  in 
part,  as  a  praiseworthy  reaction  from  the  system 
of  "  association  for  purposes  of  plunder"  which  has 
so  often  prevailed  in  the  past  when  nations  have 
combined  for  "purposes  of  defence."  But  funda- 
mentally, the  theory  is  based  upon  the  supposition 
that  the  interests  of  nations  are  antagonistic  and 
that  isolation  is  a  means  of  self-preservation. 

This  supposition  is  absolutely  opposed  to  every 
known  fact,  as  stated  in  Chapter  lY.  Its  falsity 
has  been  proved  by  actual  experiment  in  the  case 
of  China,  for  China's  position  in  relation  to  foreign 
powers  is  due  to  her  internal  disorganization,  which 
has  been  brought  about  to  a  great  extent  by  her  long- 
continued  attempts  to  cut  herself  off  from  the  rest 
of  the  world.  In  her  case  we  see  the  "  splendid 
isolation"  theory  carried  to  its  logical  extreme. 
Japan  would  have  been  in  the  same  condition  that 


168  WORLD  POLITICS. 

China  is  in  to-day  if  she  had  persisted  in  her  early 
policy. 

One  has  only  to  turn  to  nature  to  get  proof  posi- 
tive of  the  interdependence  of  all  her  component 
parts,  nations  included.  This  fact  is  admitted  and 
exemplified  by  jurists,  as  is  shown  in  the  following 
quotation  from  an  article  by  J.  M.  Irvine  on  "  In- 
ternational Law"  in  Chambers'  Encyclopcedia — cor- 
roboration of  value,  seeing  that  it  is  the  business 
of  writers  in  Encyclopaedias  to  be  conservative  in 
their  statements : 

"The  fundamental  conception  of  international 
jurisprudence  is  that  of  the  interdependence  of 
states,  as  opposed  to  their  independence.  The  fact 
of  the  reality  of  such  interdependence  is  every  day 
becoming  clearer  with  the  increase  of  complexity 
in  the  social,  commercial,  and  political  ties  by 
which  the  nations  of  the  world  are  bound  one  to 
another.  No  state,  for  example,  can  administer  its 
own  criminal  law  or  execute  its  own  criminal  judg- 
ments without  the  continual  aid  of  all  other  states ; 
and  in  declaring  at  its  Oxford  meeting  in  1880  that 
extradition  might  take  place  at  all  times  indepen- 
dently of  any  contractual  obligations,  or,  in  other 
words,  that  the  right  of  extradition  is  a  right  at 
common  law,  the  Institute  of  International  Law 
formally  accepted  the  doctrine  of  the  interdepen- 
dence of  states  as  a  conception  fundamental  in  the 
law  of  nations." 

In  America  the  isolation  theory  has  grown  up  in 
consequence  of  the  advice  contained  in  Washing- 


NOTES.  169 

ton's  celebrated  Farewell  Address,  advice  which, 
given  to  the  American  people  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  when  the  Eepublic  was  still  in 
its  infancy,  is  made  to  do  service  to-day,  when  the 
nation  has  for  long  been  adult.  Furthermore,  the 
meaning  of  the  Address  has  been  grievously  mis- 
interpreted. 

This  was  convincingly  demonstrated  by  Mr. 
Richard  Olney,  Secretary  of  State  during  Mr. 
Cleveland's  second  administration,  in  an  address 
delivered  at  Harvard,  and  afterwards  published  in 
The  Atlantic  Monthly  for  May,  1898,  under  the 
title  "  International  Isolation  of  the  United  States." 
In  it  he  said : 

"  The  Washington  rule  of  isolation,  then,  proves 
on  examination  to  have  a  much  narrower  scope  than 
the  generally  accepted  versions  give  to  it.  Those 
versions  of  it  may  and  undoubtedly  do  find  counte- 
nance in  loose  and  general  and  unconsidered  state- 
ments of  public  men  both  of  the  Washington  era 
and  of  later  times.  Nevertheless  it  is  the  rule  of 
Washington,  and  not  that  of  any  other  man  or 
men,  that  is  authoritative  with  the  American  peo- 
ple, so  that  the  inquiry  what  were  Washington's 
reasons  for  the  rule  and  how  far  those  reasons  are 
applicable  to  the  facts  of  the  present  day  is  both 
pertinent  and  important. 

"Washington  states  his  reasons  with  singular 
clearness  and  force.  *  This  nation, '  he  says  in  sub- 
stance, *  is  young  and  weak.  Its  remote  and  de- 
tached geographical  situation  exempts  it  from  any 


170  WORLD  POLITICS. 

necessary  or  natural  connection  with  the  ordinary- 
politics  or  quarrels  of  European  states.  Let  it 
therefore  stand  aloof  from  such  politics  and  such 
quarrels  and  avoid  any  alliances  that  might  connect 
it  with  them.  This  the  nation  should  do  that  it 
may  gain  time — that  the  country  may  have  peace 
during  such  period  as  is  necessary  to  enable  it  to 
settle  and  mature  its  institutions  and  to  reach  with- 
out interruption  that  degree  of  strength  and  consis- 
tency which  will  give  it  the  command  of  its  own 
fortunes. ' 

"Such  is  the  whole  theory  of  the  Washington 
rule  of  isolation.  Its  simple  statement  shows  that 
the  considerations  justifying  the  rule  to  his  mind 
can  no  longer  be  urged  in  support  of  it.  Time  has 
been  gained — our  institutions  are  proven  to  have  a 
stability  and  to  work  with  a  success  exceeding  all 
expectation — and  though  the  nation  is  still  young, 
it  has  long  since  ceased  to  be  feeble  or  to  lack  the 
power  to  command  its  own  fortunes. 

"It  is  just  as  true  that  the  achievements  of  mod- 
ern science  have  annihilated  the  time  and  space  that 
once  separated  the  Old  World  from  the  New.  In 
these  days  of  telephones  and  railroads  and  ocean 
cables  and  ocean  steamships,  it  is  difficult  to  real- 
ize that  Washington  could  write  to  the  French  Am- 
bassador at  London  in  1790,  '  We  at  this  great  dis- 
tance from  the  northern  parts  of  Europe  hear  of 
wars  and  rumors  of  wars  as  if  they  were  the  events 
or  reports  of  another  planet. '  " 

Mr.  Olney  touches  but  lightly  on  the  "  Monroe 


NOTES.  171 

Doctrine,"  as  mucli  misunderstood  in  its  way  as 
is  the  rule  laid  down  by  Washington. 

"  The  United  States  is  certainly  now  entitled  to 
rank  among  the  great  Powers  of  the  world.  Yet, 
while  its  place  among  the  nations  is  assured,  it 
purposely  takes  its  stand  outside  the  European 
family  circle  to  which  it  belongs,  and  neither  ac- 
cepts the  responsibilities  of  its  place  nor  secures 
its  advantages.  It  avowedly  restricts  its  activities 
to  the  American  continents  and  intentionally  as- 
sumes an  attitude  of  absolute  aloofness  from  every- 
thing outside  those  continents.  This  rule  of  policy 
is  not  infrequently  associated  with  another  which  is 
known  as  the  Monroe  doctrine — as  if  the  former 
grew  out  of  the  Monroe  doctrine,  or  were,  in  a  sense, 
a  kind  of  consideration  for  that  doctrine,  or  a  sort 
of  compliment  to  it.  In  reality  the  rule  of  isolation 
originated  and  was  applied  many  years  before  the 
Monroe  doctrine  was  proclaimed.  No  doubt  that 
consistency  requires  that  the  conduct  toward 
America  which  America  expects  of  Europe  should 
be  observed  by  America  toward  Europe.  Nor  is 
there  any  more  doubt  that  such  reciprocal  conduct 
is  required  of  us  not  only  by  consistency  but  by 
both  principle  and  expediency.  The  vital  feature 
of  the  Monroe  doctrine  is  that  no  European  Power 
shall  forcibly  possess  itself  of  American  soil  and 
forcibly  control  the  political  fortunes  and  destinies 
of  its  people.  Assuredly  America  can  have  no 
difficulty  in  governing  its  behavior  toward  Europe 
on  the  same  lines." 


172  WORLD  POLITICS. 

Distorting  the  Monroe  doctrine  and  pushing  the 
application  of  Washington's  rule  to  a  point  that 
would  have  been  ridiculous  even  in  his  own  time, 
can  have  but  one  result.  "  Do  we  want  the  Armenian 
butcheries  stopped?  To  any  power  that  will  send 
its  fleet  through  the  Dardanelles  and  knock  the 
Sultan's  palace  about  his  ears,  we  boldly  tender 
our  *  moral  support. '  Do  we  want  the  same  rights 
and  facilities  of  trade  in  Chinese  ports  and  territory 
that  are  accorded  to  the  people  of  any  other  country? 
We  loudly  hark  Great  Britain  on  to  the  task  of 
achieving  that  result,  but  come  to  the  rescue  our- 
selves with  not  a  gun,  nor  a  man,  nor  a  ship,  with 
nothing  but  our  'moral  support.'  .  .  .  Does  a 
foreign  question  or  controversy  present  itself  ap- 
pealing however  forcibly  to  our  sympathies  or 
sense  of  right — what  happens  the  moment  it  is 
suggested  that  the  United  States  should  seriously 
participate  in  its  settlement?  A  shiver  runs 
through  all  the  ranks  of  capital  lest  the  uninter- 
rupted course  of  money-making  be  interfered  with ; 
the  cry  of  'Jingo !  *  comes  up  in  various  quarters ; 
advocates  of  peace  at  any  price  make  themselves 
heard  from  innumerable  pulpits  and  rostrums; 
while  practical  politicians  invoke  the  doctrine  of 
the  Farewell  Address  as  an  absolute  bar  to  all 
positive  action.  The  upshot  is  more  or  less  ex- 
plosions of  sympathy  at  more  or  less  public  meet- 
ings, and,  if  the  case  is  a  very  strong  one,  a  more 
or  less  tardy  tender  by  the  government  of  its  'moral 
support. ' 


N0TE8,  173 

"  Is  that  a  creditable  part  for  a  great  nation  to 
play  in  the  affairs  of  the  world?  .  .  .  Isolation 
that  is  nothing  but  a  shirking  of  the  responsibili- 
ties of  high  place  and  great  power  is  simply  igno- 
minious." 

In  terms  of  dollars  and  cents,  how  can  the  United 
States  be  '  independent '  of  other  countries  when  in 
1896,  taking  that  as  an  average  year,  over  27  per 
cent,  of  all  the  wheat  it  produced  was  exported; 
when  over  43  per  cent,  of  the  mineral  oil  it  pro- 
duced was  exported ;  when  65  per  cent,  of  the  cot- 
ton it  produced  was  exported? 

The  total  domestic  exports  from  the  United  States 
during  the  fiscal  year  ending  June,  1897,  excluding 
specie,  amounted  to  $1,032,007,603  or  about  X205, 
000,000;  over  46.3  per  cent,  of  which  were  sent  to 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  alone,  and  over  57.2  per 
cent,  of  which  were  sent  to  Great  Britain,  Ireland, 
and  the  Colonies  and  Dependencies. 

During  the  same  period  the  value  of  the  mer- 
chandise imported  into  the  United  States  amounted 
to  $764,730,412  or  about  £153,000,000;  over  21.9 
per  cent,  of  which  came  from  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  alone,  while  33.5  per  cent,  came  from 
Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and  the  Colonies  and 
Dependencies.  (Statistics,  Treasury  Department, 
U.  S.  A.) 

These  figures  must  surely  upset  the  isolation 
theory  and  the  notion  that  the  United  States 
is  independent  of  foreign  relationships.  A  mer- 
chant is  dependent  upon  his  customers.     Their 


174  WORLD  POLITICS. 

welfare  benefits  him.  In  the  same  way  he  is  de- 
pendent upon  those  from  whom  he  buys,  their 
stability  and  general  reliability  being  of  great  con- 
sequence to  him,  just  as  the  constant  provision  of 
raw  material  is  a  matter  of  great  consequence  to 
the  manufacturer.  They  are  all  of  them  inter- 
dependent. 

The  same  blight  of  imagined  independence  has 
fallen  upon  Great  Britain ;  and  if  to  a  lesser  extent 
than  upon  the  United  States,  there  is  certainly  less 
excuse  for  it  in  the  former  case  than  can  be  put  for- 
ward on  behalf  of  the  American  Commonwealth. 
Great  Britain  is  a  huge  trader,  and  from  many 
other  points  of  view  there  is  hardly  a  country  on 
the  inhabited  globe  with  which  she  is  not  directly 
connected  by  bonds  of  mutual  interest. 

During  the  fiscal  year  1894  to  1895,  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  did  trading  to  the  amount  of  £690, 
559,507  or  about  $3,450,000,000-X446,922,574  or 
about  $2,200,000,000  of  this  being  Imports,  and 
£243,636,933  or  about  $1,200,000,000  being  Ex- 
ports. 

The  United  Kingdom,  India,  and  the  Colonies 
together,  during  the  same  period,  traded  to  the  ex- 
tent of  £1,100,461,968  or  about  $5,500,000,000; 
carrying  a  total  debt  of  £1,099,369,556,  or  about 
$5,400,000,000.  (The  Statesman's  Year  Book,  1S96.) 
What  a  large  percentage  of  this  trade  is  carried 
on  with  the  United  States  has  already  been  shown. 

Can  the  much-vaunting  practical  person  still 
deny  that  nations  are  interdependent?    Hardly,  it 


NOTES.  175 

would  seem ;  yet  whenever  mention  is  made  of  for- 
eign alliances  he  bristles  with  indignation  at  the 
idea  of  Great  Britain,  for  instance,  involving  her- 
self by  mixing  her  own  interests  with  those  of  some 
other  nation — as  if  her  interests  could  possibly  be 
more  mixed  than  they  are  already.  His  indigna- 
tion may  be  due  to  his  dreadfully  limited  out- 
look. 

Incapable  of  seeing  anything  beyond  what  he 
deems  a  necessary  quid  pro  quo  of  dollars  and 
cents,  he  insists  upon  considering  an  alliance  as 
a  business  partnership,  demanding  to  know  how 
much  money,  or  how  many  ships,  guns,  and  men, 
some  nation  is  at  once  ready  to  put  into  the  con- 
cern. Even  from  that  point  of  view  his  outlook  is 
too  confined  to  enable  him  to  estimate  prospects : 
the  money,  the  ships,  the  guns,  the  men,  must  be 
ready  to  jump  into  the  scales  before  he  would  seri- 
ously contemplate  an  alliance ;  and  for  fear  that  he 
might  have  to  give  something  in  return  for  what  he 
gets,  and  that  he  might  not  be  able  to  employ  his 
increased  capital  immediately,  he  prefers  to  "  wait 
until  the  crisis  arrives." 

If  it  is  suggested  that  the  nation  in  question 
may  not  care  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  him  and 
his  fellows,  on  such  a  basis,  in  a  time  of  crisis,  he 
replies  that  Great  Britain  is  rich  enough  to  buy 
allies  whenever  she  needs  them,  and  if  that  nation 
cannot  be  bought,  others  can  be ! 

Atavism  and  its  products  are  disagreeable,  though 
unavoidable :  are  sometimes  more  than  disagreeable, 


176  WORLD  POLITICS. 

occasionally  manifesting  a  shameful  and  degrading 
perversion  of  every  better  instinct. 

Kome,  among  other  nations,  had  a  rather  bitter 
experience  with  mercenaries;  England  may  pass 
through  the  same  experience  too,  if  she  insists 
upon  it,  though  it  is  to  be  hoped,  for  her  sake, 
that  the  experience  she  has  had  already  of  hired 
allies  will  prevent  further  lapses  in  that  direction. 
But, 

"  O  queen  from  of  old  of  the  seas, 
England,  art  thou  of  them  too 
That  drink  of  the  poisonous  flood, 
That  hide  under  poisonous  trees?" 

Is  this  to  be  the  outcome  of  all  her  struggles,  of 
all  her  efforts  toward  higher  and  better  things? 
Must  she  depend  at  the  last  upon  mercenaries, 
upon  hirelings— and  fall  as  Kome  fell?  There  will 
be  no  such  necessity,  if  she  will  rely  upon  her  own 
native  strength  and  will  use  that,  while  recognizing 
the  interdependence  of  nations  and  the  wisdom  of 
acting  upon  principle. 

Those  who  regard  an  alliance  as  necessarily  par- 
taking of  the  nature  of  a  business  partnership,  over- 
look their  own  every-day  experience.  It  would  al- 
most seem  that  they  cannot  conceive  of  association 
for  any  other  purpose  than  that  of  direct  financial 
gain;  yet  Trades  Unions,  Employers'  Protective 
Associations,  Clubs,  Societies  with  political,  legal, 
scientific,  literary,  philanthropic,  and  other  objects, 
are  all  common  examples  of  association  for  other 
purposes  than  that  of  direct  gain.     Poor  men  as 


NOTES.  177 

well  as  rich  may  belong  to  them,  being  well  quali- 
fied for  reasons  quite  other  than  financial,  the  poor 
men  being  sometimes  the  most  useful  members  of 
the  organization. 

Kepresentative  government  itself  is  an  important 
instance  of  association  for  the  purpose  of  mutual 
benefit,  without  direct  gain  and  on  payment  of  a 
more  or  less  heavy  price.  The  enactment  of  laws 
by  such  a  government  is  another  example  of  mutual 
agreement  for  the  benefit  of  all  concerned,  though 
these  laws  may  limit  the  liberties  of  the  individuals 
enacting  them. 

On  an  international  scale  there  are  many  illustra- 
tions of  the  same  kind  of  association,  one  of  which, 
indirectly  commercial  though  it  is,  is  that  of  the 
Universal  Postal  Union;  another,  purely  humani- 
tarian in  its  objects,  is  that  of  the  agreement  entered 
into  at  the  Convention  of  Geneva  of  1864. 

It  is  impossible  for  a  nation  to  isolate  itself,  and 
the  only  question  is,  to  what  extent  it  cares  to 
affiliate  with  another  or  other  nations  in  order  to 
promote  the  interests  they  share  in  common,  many 
of  which  are  generally  admitted  to  be  superior  to 
the  directly  commercial  interests,  however  impor- 
tant the  latter  may  be. 

Much  has  been  said  recently  concerning  an  Anglo- 
American  Alliance,  and  the  usual  objections  have 
been  raised  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  on  the 
score  of  doubtful  quid  pro  qvx)^  this  way  and  that. 
But  if  such  an  alliance  were  entered  into  on  the 
basis  of  self-interest  only,  or,  on  the  other  hand, 
12 


178  WORLD  POLITICS. 

on  merely  sentimental  grounds,  it  would  do  more 
harm  than  good;  it  would  become  a  danger  in- 
stead of  a  blessing  to  the  world. 

Mutual  self-interest  is  a  bond  of  the  flimsiest 
description,  liable  to  snap  at  any  moment  as  con- 
ditions change.  Commercial  partnerships  con- 
ducted on  a  strictly  business  basis  are  not  only 
frequently  impermanent — proverbially  so  when  the 
parties  to  them  are  incessantly  looking  for  quid  pro 
quo— hut,  once  broken,  lead  to  a  bitterness  of  op- 
position that  is  not  met  with  among  ordinarily 
competing  firms. 

Such  an  alliance,  then,  to  be  enduring,  would 
have  to  be  based  upon  something  tvhich  would  not 
change  in  itself ,  as  sentiment  and  self-interest 
change.  Ties  of  language,  religion,  race,  are  not 
sufficient  by  themselves.  Common  recognition  of 
principle  and  mutual  agreement  as  to  its  practical 
application,  would  alone  supply  the  basis  that  is 
needed. 

Perhaps  Mr.  Arthur  Balfour,  speaking  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Marquess  of  Salisbury's  cabinet,  sug- 
gested the  only  true  foundation  for  an  association 
of  the  kind,  though  he  made  no  practical  proposal 
for  the  application  of  the  principle  he  enunciated. 

"  We  have  a  domestic  patriotism,"  he  said,  "as 
Scotchmen  or  Englishmen  or  as  Irishmen,  or  what 
you  will,  we  have  an  Imperial  patriotism  as  citi- 
zens of  the  British  Empire  [or  an  American  patriot- 
ism as  citizens  of  the  great  Eepublic] ;  but  surely, 
in  addition  to  that,  we  have  also  an  Anglo-Saxon 


NOTES.  179 

patriotism  ["  Anglo-Celtic"  was  suggested  by  Dr. 
Conan  Doyle]  which  embraces  within  its  ample 
folds  the  whole  of  that  great  race  which  has  done 
so  much  in  every  branch  of  human  effort,  and  in 
that  branch  of  human  effort  which  has  produced  free 
institutions  and  free  communities. 

"We  may  be  taxed  with  being  idealists  and 
dreamers  in  this  matter.  I  would  rather  be  an 
idealist  and  a  dreamer,  and  I  look  forward  with 
confidence  to  the  time  when  our  ideals  will  have 
become  real  and  our  dreams  will  be  embodied  in 
actual  political  fact.  For,  after  all,  circumstances 
will  tend  in  that  direction  in  which  we  look. 

"  It  cannot  but  be  that  those  who  share  our  lan- 
guage, our  literature,  our  laws,  our  religion,  every- 
thing that  makes  a  nation  great,  and  who  share  in 
substance  our  institutions — it  cannot  but  be  that 
the  time  will  come  when  they  ivill  feel  that  they  and 
loe  have  a  common  duty  to  perform,  a  common  office 
to  fulfil  among  the  nations  of  the  world.'' 

Mr.  Olney  struck  the  same  keynote  in  concluding 
his  Harvard  address.  Eef erring  to  the  close  com- 
munity existing  between  the  British  and  American 
peoples,  "in  origin,  speech,  thought,  literature, 
institutions,  ideals — in  the  kind  and  degree  of 
civilization  enjoyed  by  both,"  he  added: 

"  In  that  same  community,  and  in  that  co-opera- 
tion in  good  works  which  should  result  from  it,  lies, 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  the  best  hope  for  the 
f  iture  not  only  of  the  two  kindred  peoples  but  of 
the  human  race  itself." 


180  WORLD  POLITICS. 

An  alliance  based  upon  principles  of  freedom,  of 
justice,  of  responsibility,  would  not  be  as  against 
any  other  nation  or  combination  of  nations,  but 
largely /or  them  all.  A  door  would  be  left  wide 
open  by  which  other  nations  would  be  welcomed  as 
sharers  in  the  benefits  accruing  from  such  an  asso- 
ciation ;  and,  as  the  years  passed,  we  might  live  to 
hear  less  of  "America  for  the  Americans,"  less  of 
"Britain  for  the  British,"  proclaiming,  as  such 
cries  do,  the  very  epitome  of  selfishness ;  we  might 
live  to  hear  a  different  cry — "An  alliance  of  Na- 
tions to  maintain  justice  in  the  world." 

A  difficulty  lies  in  finding  a  practical  basis  for 
such  an  alliance,  in  regard  to  which  more  will  be 
found  in  Part  IV. 


NOTE  E. 

(From  p.  73.) 

Christianity. 

In  this  and  in  the  preceding  chapter,  particular 
stress  has  been  laid  upon  the  views  of  Mr.  Herbert 
Spencer  and  Professor  Huxley,  because  they  are 
commonly  though  erroneously  supposed  to  be  sup- 
porters of  an  individualism  which  is  interpreted  by 
those  whom  it  suits  to  so  interpret  it  as  an  excuse 
for  a  short-sighted  selfishness.  Many  people  who 
wish  to  obtain  some  immediate  advantage  at  the 
sacrifice  of  principle  defend  their  conduct  on  the 
ground  that  selfishness  is  necessary  in  an  age  of 
competition,  and  that  consideration  for  others  is 
unpractical  and  sentimental. 

No  scientist  would  adopt  or  condone  such  a 
ridiculously  unscientific  attitude,  but  those  who 
do,  will  often  claim  that  "  Science"  supports  them, 
with  its  theory  of  "  the  survival  of  the  fittest"  and 
so  forth ;  and  "  Science"  is  supposed  by  such  peo- 
ple to  be  synonymous  with  Professor  Huxley  and 
Mr.  Spencer.  Hence  the  importance  of  adducing 
their  views  as  one  more  nail  in  the  coffin  of  igno- 
rant, self -destructive,  but  self-parading  selfishness. 

If  opposition  to  the  views  put  forward  cannot 
come  from  scientific  sources;  if,  on  the  contrary, 


182  WORLD  POLITICS. 

modern  science  as  a  whole  is  one  concentrated 
argument  in  support  of  an  enlightened  altruism  as 
binding  upon  the  individual,  the  community,  and 
the  nation,  and  if  evolution  demands  the  fulfilment 
of  duties  to  others,  opposition  need  hardly  be  ex- 
pected from  any  other  quarter.  It  is  difficult  to 
believe  that  any  one  calling  himself  a  Christian  and 
adopting  the  teachings  of  the  2^etv  Testament,  would 
show  himself  less  true  to  principle  and  less  consist- 
ent with  his  own  ethical  system,  than  are  those  who 
do  not  claim  to  be  followers  of  the  gentle  Jesus. 
•  So  it  is  taken  for  granted  throughout  these  pages 
that  those  who  are  really  believers  in  Christ's 
teachings,  as  distinguished  from  "  professing  Chris- 
tians," must  recognize  the  need  for  Christian  prac- 
tice as  between  the  nations,  as  well  as  between  in- 
dividuals. They  need  only  ask  themselves.  What 
would  Christ  say  in  regard  to  this  matter? 

It  has  been  remarked  many  times  that  some  ex- 
ponents of  religion,  at  the  first  outbreak  of  interna- 
tional hostilities,  assume  a  new  character  the  very 
opposite  of  the  function  with  which  they  usually 
expect  to  be  credited,  busying  themselves  with 
prayers  to  propitiate  the  god  of  battles,  and  suc- 
ceeding, maybe,  in  adding  a  fanatical  belief  in  the 
exclusive  righteousness  of  their  own  cause  to  the 
natural  fury  of  the  combatants. 

If  this  is  true  of  the  past,  and  of  certain  expon- 
ents of  religion,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  future 
will  witness  some  atonement  for  such  a  monstrous 
perversion  of  Christianity ;  for  the  influence  of  the 


NOTES.  183 

more  enlightened  section  of  the  religions  commn- 
nity  should  not  only  restrain  such  outbursts  of  bar- 
barism in  the  event  of  war,  but  should  hasten  to 
encourage  and  support  any  rational  proposal  likely 
to  promote  peace. 


NOTE  F. 

(From  p.  109.) 
The  International  Marine  Conference. 

"  Half  a  century  ago,  as  it  is  well  known,  there 
did  not  exist  any  written  law  or  regulation  for 
the  prevention  of  collisions  between  ships  at  sea. 
There  was  then  only  a  general  custom  of  the  sea." 

In  January,  1863,  England  and  France  concluded 
agreements  as  to  common  rules,  which  they  were 
by  then  forced  to  do,  owing  to  their  mutual  inter- 
ests in  the  navigation  of  the  Channel.  After  much 
delay,  and  after  these  preliminary  rules  had  been 
adopted  by  most  civilized  states,  an  International 
Conference  was  held  at  Washington  in  1889,  which 
was  reported  to  the  President  of  the  United  States 
by  Mr.  James  G.  Blaine,  writing  from  the  Depart- 
ment of  State  on  February  12th,  1890,  as  follows : 

"  To  the  President : 

"In  pursuance  to  the  provisions  of  the  act  of 
Congress  approved  July  9,  1888,  an  invitation  was 
extended  to  the  maritime  powers  to  take  part  in  a 
conference  to  be  held  at  Washington,  the  objects  of 
which  were  to  revise  and  amend  the  rules,  regula- 
tions, and  practice  concerning  vessels  at  sea  and 
navigation  generally ;  to  adopt  a  uniform  system  of 


NOTES.  185 

marine  signals,  especially  with  reference  to  signal- 
ing in  fog;  to  compare  and  discuss  the  various 
systems  employed  for  the  saving  of  life  and  prop- 
erty from  shipwreck ;  to  devise  methods  of  report- 
ing, marking,  and  removing  dangerous  wrecks  and 
obstructions  to  navigation,  and  to  establish  uniform 
means  of  conveying  to  mariners  warnings  of  storms 
and  other  information. 

"Of  the  thirty-seven  maritime  powers  invited, 
favorable  responses  to  the  invitation  were  received 
from  twenty-seven,  which  included  the  principal 
nations.  The  delegates  from  the  accepting  powers 
met  on  the  16th  of  October  last,  and  the  Interna- 
tional Marine  Conference  was  organized. 

"After  a  very  satisfactory  session,  the  Confer- 
ence was  finally  concluded  December  31, 1889.  .  .  . 
Respectfully  submitted." 

The  following  powers  were  represented :  Austria- 
Hungary,  Belgium,  Brazil,  Chili,  China,  Costa 
Rica,  Denmark,  France,  Germany,  Great  Britain, 
Guatemala,  Hawaii,  Honduras,  Italy,  Japan, 
Mexico,  Netherlands,  Nicaragua,  Norway,  Portu- 
gal, Russia,  Siana,  Spain,  Sweden,  Turkey,  Uru- 
guay, Venezuela,  and  the  United  States.  (See  the 
Official  Report  for  the  above.) 

The  quotation  with  which  this  Note  opens,  is 
taken  from  a  Memorandum  prepared  by  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  Second  Northern  Maritime  Conference 
(representing  a  merchant  fleet  of  over  2,000,000 
tons  register),  held  at  Copenhagen,    September, 


186  WORLD  POLITICS. 

1888,  under  the  chair mansliip  of  Mr.  C.  F.  Tiet- 
gen,  Chairman  of  the  Copenhagen  Chamber  of 
Commerce. 

In  the  same  Memorandum,  which  contained  sug- 
gestions to  be  submitted  at  the  Washington  Con- 
ference, the  Committee  of  business  men  who  drew 
it  up  declared  that  "  it  ought  not  to  be  forgotten 
that  the  realization  of  this  plan  aims  at  something 
more  than  the  satisfaction  of  the  behoof  of  the 
material  interests;  for  it  is  through  progress  of 
this  kind  that  the  way  shall  be  paved  for  a  better 
mutual  understanding  between  the  nations,  for  bet- 
ter relations  between  them,  and  for  a  better  com- 
prehension of  the  truth  that  all  the  peoples  of  the 
earth,  in  spite  of  their  national  peculiarities,  have 
got  by  Providence  a  common  work  to  do  and  a 
common  aim  to  strive  for — the  development  of  the 
whole  of  mankind  to  a  life  in  peace  and  harmony." 


NOTE  a. 

(From  p.  135.) 

Sully  and  Kant. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  "  Great  Design" 
of  Henry  lY.  of  France  and  Elizabeth  of  England, 
as  it  is  presented  in  Sully's  Memoirs,  though  it 
contemplated  the  establishment  of  a  General  Coun- 
cil, representing  all  the  states  of  Europe,  was  to 
have  been  a  most  warlike  and  arbitrary  measure — 
a  scheme  of  universal  conquest,  in  short,  with  the 
crippling  of  the  house  of  Austria  as  a  lirst  pre- 
liminary. After  this  had  been  done,  Europe  was 
to  have  undergone  a  process  of  redistribution,  and 
was  to  have  been  thereafter  governed  by  "  laws  and 
ordinances"  under  the  direction  of  the  Council, 
which  it  was  proposed  to  form  on  the  model  of  the 
Amphictyonic  Assembly  of  ancient  Greece. 

Countries  were  to  have  been  summarily  disposed 
of,  in  the  event  of  their  holding  aloof  from  the  en- 
terprise. "  Should  the  Grand  Duke  of  Muscovy, 
or  Czar  of  Russia,  who  is  believed  to  be  the  ancient 
Khan  of  Scythia,  refuse  to  enter  into  the  associa- 
tion after  it  is  proposed  to  him,  he  ought  to  be 
treated  like  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  deprived  of 
his  possessions  in  Europe,  and  confined  to  Asia 


188  WORLD  POLITICS. 

only.  ..."  (Memoirs  of  the  Duke  of  Sully  f'Boh.n's 
ed.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  236.) 

Sully  says  that  the  princes  joining  the  associa- 
tion, which  he  describes  as  a  "  military  confede- 
racy," "after  they  had  conquered  with  it  whatever 
they  would  not  suffer  any  stranger  should  share 
with  them  in  Europe,  would  have  sought  to  join  to 
it  such  parts  of  Asia  as  were  most  commodiously 
situated,  and  particularly  the  whole  coast  of  Africa, 
which  is  too  near  to  our  own  territories  for  us  not 
to  be  frequently  incommoded  by  it.  The  only 
precaution  to  be  observed  in  regard  to  these  addi- 
tional countries  would  have  been  to  form  them  into 
new  kingdoms,  declare  them  united  with  the  rest 
of  the  Christian  powers,  and  bestow  tliem  on  dif- 
ferent princes,  carefully  observing  to  exclude  those 
who  before  bore  rank  among  the  sovereigns  of 
Europe."     {Loc.  cit.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  238.) 

At  the  time  of  Henry's  death  the  plans  for  carry- 
ing out  this  scheme  had  been  thoroughly  matured, 
and  a  most  powerful  combination  of  the  European 
states  had  been  formed  to  give  it  effect.  The  sup- 
port of  the  Pope  had  been  obtained :  it  was  pro- 
posed to  give  him  temporal  power;  the  plan  also 
including  the  conversion  of  the  continual  wars 
among  the  princes  of  Europe  "  into  a  perpetual  war 
against  the  Infidels." 

But  the  real  end  in  view  was  most  commendable, 
and  reflects  infinite  credit  upon  Henry  and  his 
minister,  for  it  was  "  to  save  both  himself  and  his 
neighbours  those  immense  sums  which  the  main- 


NOTES.  189 

tenance  of  so  many  thousand  soldiers,  so  many 
fortified  places,  and  so  many  military  expenses  re- 
quire ;  to  free  them  for  ever  from  the  fear  of  those 
bloody  catastrophes  so  common  in  Europe ;  to  pro- 
cure them  an  uninterrupted  repose ;  and  finally,  to 
unite  them  all  in  an  indissoluble  bond  of  security 
and  friendship,  after  which  they  might  live  to- 
gether like  brethren.  ..."  (Loc.  cit,  vol.  iv.,  p. 
233.) 

Although  such  ends  are  worthy  of  the  highest 
praise,  the  means  proposed  for  their  attainment 
cannot  be  commended ;  for  in  spite  of  the  immense 
ability  displayed  in  preparing  the  plan  of  cam- 
paign, its  designers  did  not  allow  for  the  inevita- 
ble consequences  of  arbitrary  and  unjust  meth- 
ods. They  also  failed  to  realize  that  they  were 
not  merely  dealing  with  princes,  but  with  peo- 
ples who  were  already  beginning  to  assert  their 
rights. 

It  is  easy  to  criticize  such  a  plan,  however,  in 
the  light  of  later  experience.  For  its  day  it  was 
an  extraordinary  expression  of  the  world's  desire 
for  peace  and  for  the  establishment  of  international 
law  and  order.  The  design  is  all  the  more  remark- 
able because  its  chief  promoters  were  the  most  suc- 
cessful practical  statesmen  of  their  time.  Sully,  in 
particular,  has  gained  general  recognition  at  the 
hands  of  historians  for  his  ability  and  sound  com- 
mon sense ;  and  on  that  account  his  opinion  con- 
cerning the  European  situation  is  of  value,  seeing 
that  it  applies  as  fittingly  to  conditions  as  they 


190  WORLD  POLITICS. 

now  exist  as  to  those  prevailing  in  the  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth  century. 

"I  dare  further  maintain,"  he  says,  "that  peace 
is  the  groat  and  common  interest  of  Europe.  .  .  . 
When  I  consider  Europe  as  composed  of  such 
civilized  people,  I  cannot  but  be  astonished  that 
she  still  continues  to  be  governed  by  principles  so 
narrow,  and  customs  so  barbarous.  What  is  the 
consequence  of  that  profound  policy  of  which  she 
is  so  vain,  other  than  her  own  continual  laceration 
and  ruin?  War  is  the  resource  in  all  places,  and 
upon  all  occasions;  she  knows  no  other  way,  or 
conceives  no  other  expedients:  it  is  the  sole  re- 
source of  the  most  inconsiderable  sovereign,  as 
well  as  of  the  greatest  potentate.  .  .  .  Why  must 
we  always  impose  on  ourselves  the  necessity  of  pass- 
ing through  war  to  arrive  at  peace?  the  attainment 
of  which  is  the  end  of  all  wars,  and  is  a  plain  proof 
that  recourse  is  had  to  war  only  for  want  of  a  bet- 
ter expedient.  Nevertheless,  we  have  so  effectually 
confounded  this  truth,  that  we  seem  to  make  peace 
only  that  we  may  again  be  able  to  make  war." 
(Loc.  ciL,  vol.  ii.,  p.  353.) 

That  is  the  view  of  a  practical  statesman.  Phi- 
losophers have  not  been  slow  to  arrive  at  the  same 
general  conclusions,  and  some  of  them  have  sug- 
gested remedies  similar  to  the  "  Great  Design"  of 
Henry,  avoiding  for  the  most  part,  however,  the 
strange  contradiction  in  his  plan,  which  aimed  at 
establishing  a  Perpetual  Peace  and  which  yet  pro- 
vided for  a  "perpetual  war  against  the  Infidels." 


NOTES.  191 

Omitting  minor  instances — such  as  the  proposals 
of  the  Abbe  de  St.  Pierre  and  of  Kousseau — the 
essay  on  Perpetual  Peace  by  Kant,  published  in 
1795,  and  his  earlier  essay  on  The  Natural  Principle 
of  the  Political  Ch^der,  are  well-known  contributions 
to  the  literature  on  this  subject. 

Kant  was  too  profound  a  thinker  to  fall  into  the 
error  of  supposing  that  peace  could  actually  be 
made  perpetual.  He  lays  this  down  very  clearly 
in  his  Philosophy  of  Law :  "  Perpetual  Peace,  which 
is  the  ultimate  end  of  all  the  Eight  of  Nations,  be- 
comes in  fact  an  impracticable  idea.  The  political 
principles,  however,  which  aim  at  such  an  end, 
and  which  enjoin  the  formation  of  such  unions 
among  the  States  as  may  promote  a  continuous 
approximation  to  a  Perpetual  Peace,  are  not  im- 
practicable ;  they  are  as  practicable  as  this  approx- 
imation itself,  which  is  a  practical  problem  in- 
volving a  duty,  and  founded  upon  the  Right  of 
individual  men  and  States."  (Hastie's  transla- 
tion, sect.  61.) 

Kant  presents  a  very  powerful  argument  in  favour 
of  international  legislation.  His  "  Seventh  Propo- 
sition" in  ITie  Natural  Principle  of  the  Political 
Order  is  that : 

"  The  problem  of  the  establishment  of  a  perfect 
Civil  Constitution  is  dependent  on  the  problem  of 
the  regulation  of  the  external  relations  between  the 
States  conformably  to  Law ;  and  without  the  solu- 
tion of  this  latter  problem  it  cannot  be  solved." 

"What  avails  it,"  he  comments,  "to  labour  at 


192  WORLD  POLITICS. 

the  arrangement  of  a  Commonwealth  as  a  Civil 
Constitution  regulated  by  law  among  individual 
men?  The  same  unsociableness  which  forced  men 
to  it,  becomes  again  the  cause  of  each  Common- 
wealth assuming  the  attitude  of  uncontrolled  free- 
dom in  its  external  relations,  that  is,  as  one  State 
in  relation  to  other  States ;  and  consequently,  any 
one  State  must  expect  from  any  other  the  same 
sort  of  evils  as  opi)ressed  individual  men  and  com- 
pelled them  to  enter  into  a  Civil  Union  regulated 
by  law.  Nature  has  accordingly  again  used  the 
unsociableness  of  men,  and  even  of  great  societies 
and  political  bodies,  her  creatures  of  this  kind,  as 
a  means  to  work  out  through  their  mutual  An- 
tagonism a  condition  of  rest  and  security.  She 
works  through  wars,  through  the  strain  of  never 
relaxed  preparation  for  them,  and  through  the 
necessity  which  every  state  is  at  last  compelled 
to  feel  within  itself,  even  in  the  midst  of  peace,  to 
begin  some  imperfect  efforts  to  carry  out  her  pur- 
pose. And,  at  last,  after  many  devastations,  over- 
throws, and  even  complete  internal  exhaustion 
of  their  powers,  the  nations  are  driven  forward  to 
the  goal  which  Eeason  might  have  well  impressed 
upon  them,  even  without  so  much  sad  experience. 
This  is  none  other  than  the  advance  out  of  the 
lawless  state  of  savages  and  the  entering  into  a 
Federation  of  Nations." 

"The  necessity  in  which  men  involve  one  an- 
other," he  continues,  "must  compel  the  Nations 
to  the  very  resolution — however  hard  it  may  aj)- 


NOTES.  193 

pear — to  which  the  savage  in  his  uncivilized  state, 
was  so  unwillingly  compelled,  when  he  had  to  sur- 
render his  brutal  liberty  and  seek  rest  and  security 
in  a  Constitution  regulated  by  law."  (Hastie's 
translation,  pp.  16,  17.) 

It  is  not  often  that  statesmen  and  philosophers 
agree,  and  Sully,  one  of  the  greatest  of  European 
statesmen,  and  Kant,  whom  many  have  called  the 
father  of  modern  philosophy,  agree  in  relation  to 
this  matter  in  so  many  important  respects  that 
their  concurrence  affords  valuable  testimony  in  sup- 
port of  the  conclusions  now  submitted. 
13 


NOTE  H. 

(From  p.  152.) 

The  English-Speaking  Peoples. 

Is  it  not  for  the  English-speaking  peoples  to  take 
the  initiative  in  this  matter?  Is  not  this  the  only 
practical  basis  for  the  proposed  alliance?  The 
English-speaking  peoples  claim  to  be  pre-eminent- 
ly civilized.  They  are  not  a  single  race,  but  a 
heterogeneous  mass  of  Anglo-Saxons,  Celts,  Dutch, 
Germans,  Scandinavians,  Latins,  and  of  many  other 
different  elements,  sharing,  however,  the  same 
ideas  and  institutions. 

Has  not  the  time  almost  come  when  the  United 
States  and  the  United  Kingdom  and  Colonies  will 
feel,  as  Mr.  Balfour  said,  that  they  have  "  a  com- 
mon duty  to  perform,  a  common  office  to  fulfil 
among  the  nations  of  the  world"?  '  The  present  is 
a  magnificent  opportunity.  If  it  is  not  seized  it 
may  be  a  chance  missed  for  ever,  so  far  as  existing 
nations  are  concerned. 

Eome  had  a  similar  chance,  not  only  as  a  single 
Empire,  but  when  the  Eastern  and  Western  Em- 
pires were  virtually  as  distinct  as  are  the  United 

*  See  Note  D.,  on  "'Splendid  Isolation, '  or  the  Interdepen- 
dence of  Nations, "  of  which  this  Note  is  practically  a  con- 
tinuation. 


NOTES.  195 

States  and  Great  Britain  to-day.  The  rulers  of  the 
Latin-speaking  peoples  might  have  enacted  inter- 
national laws  and  made  them  binding  wherever  the 
Latin  tongue  was  spoken.  These  laws  would  have 
affected  surrounding  nations,  would  i)robably  have 
been  acceded  to  by  them  also,  and  would  thus  have 
formed  an  imperishable  system  by  which  the  rela- 
tions of  states  could  have  been  thereafter  regulated. 
The  Latin-speaking  peoples  missed  their  chance, 
paying  for  their  lack  of  foresight  with  disinte- 
gration and  a  narrow  escape  from  extinction. 
They  relied  upon  brute  strength,  not  upon  jus- 
tice. 

Are  miserable  jealousies  and  trumpery  policies 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  this  saving  achievement  to- 
day? It  is  to  be  hoped  not.  The  good  sense  of 
the  people  and  their  appreciation  of  right  princi- 
ples will  surely  prevail  against  separative  forces, 
and  the  alliance,  so  much  talked  about,  but  for 
which,  in  the  past,  no  practical  basis  has  been  sicg- 
gestedf  will  be  entered  into,  not  for  purposes  of 
offence,  but  by  way  of  mutual  consent  to  laws,  to 
which  all  nations  will  be  invited  to  accede,  and  from 
the  establishment  of  which  all  the  races  of  the  earth 
will  receive  enduring  benefit. 

If  there  are  any  in  America  who,  too  blind  to  see 
that  it  would  benefit  their  own  country,  can  admit 
that  it  would  benefit  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  who 
yet  say  that  the  rest  of  the  world  is  nothing  to  them 
for  America  is  all  in  all — their  love  for  their  country 
should  make  them  beware.     Expansion  is  the  first 


196  WORLD  POLITICS. 

law  of  life ;  and  though  expansion  of  territory  may 
not  be  necessary  after  a  certain  point,  expansion  of 
interest,  of  commerce,  of  thought,  is.  Otherwise 
expansive  forces  are  hurled  back  upon  themselves 
and  congest :  attacking  some  weak  spot,  some  natu- 
ral loophole  for  their  repressed  activities,  they  ex- 
plode, and  disintegration  results. 

Apart  from  such  considerations,  which  would  be 
utterly  unworthy  if  all  people  realized  their  moral 
responsibilities,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  compara- 
tively few  Americans  have  any  real  faith  in  the 
power  of  their  country  as  a  leading  factor  in  the 
elevation  of  the  race.  Individual  Americans  have 
the  reputation  in  Europe  of  being  braggarts :  and 
there  is  some  basis  for  the  imputation.  Yet  it 
would  be  the  greatest  possible  mistake  to  attribute 
the  brag  to  conceit  or  to  irrepressible  self-confi- 
dence. A  man  who  is  really  self-confident  never 
brags;  a  man  who  is  trying  to  be  self-confident 
sometimes  does. 

If  Americans  were  to  believe,  as  they  would  be 
justified  in  believing,  that  in  their  country's  possi- 
bilities lies  the  brightest  hope  for  the  future  of  the 
world,  and  that  her  influence  on  Europe  is  rapidly 
increasing  and  is  already  immense,  they  would  talk 
less  and  do  more,  so  that  in  a  very  short  time  Amer- 
ica would  take  her  place  as  one  of  the  leaders  if  not 
the  leader  in  the  affairs  of  nations,  instead  of  re- 
maining, as  she  has  usually  done  in  the  past,  a 
spectator  loudly  vociferating  from  the  top  of  a 
fence.    To  do  this,  in  the  way  proposed,  would  not 


NOTES.  197 

of  necessity  involve  the  increase  of  her  army  and 
navy  by  a  man  or  a  ship,  for  it  would  provide  her 
with  the  middle  course  between  the  two  extremes 
of  isolation  and  aggressive  acquisitiveness,  and  to 
follow  either  of  these  would  oblige  her  to  increase 
her  armaments  enormously. 

It  is  possible  that  Great  Britain  realizes  more 
clearly  than  the  United  States,  both  the  dangers 
that  beset  her  and  her  own  inherent  strength.  She 
has  had  the  longer  and  more  varied  experience  of 
the  two.  In  any  case,  it  is  almost  certain  that  if 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  were  to  pro- 
pose that  a  conference  should  be  held  to  consider 
the  question  of  International  Law,  the  Government 
of  the  United  Kingdom  would  cordially  co-operate 
in  the  undertaking. 

Only  by  joining  an  association  of  states,  broadly 
based  upon  mutual  consent  to  a  system  of  federal 
law,  can  the  union  of  Great  Britain  with  her  Colo- 
nies be  permanently  maintained. 

At  the  present  time  Great  Britain  would  be  sup- 
ported in  her  action  by  all  the  Colonies,  though 
perhaps  more  on  account  of  their  loyalty  to  the 
mother-country  and  their  friendly  feeling  for 
America,  than  because  of  their  appreciation  of  the 
urgency  of  the  question.  The  majority  of  the 
Colonies  have  had  practically  no  experience  of 
war,  except  with  aboriginal  races;  they  have  had 
next  to  no  experience  in  foreign  affairs—the  South 
African  Colonies  differing  in  these  respects  from 
the  others. 


198  WORLD  POLITICS. 

It  is  difficult  for  a  native  of  Adelaide,  Melbourne, 
or  Sydney,  or  of  some  up-country  town  such  as 
Deniliquin,  to  contemplate  seriously  the  always 
possible  destruction  of  the  British  fleet,  with  all  that 
that  might  involve.  It  is  also  difficult  for  a  Lon- 
doner to  understand  that  a  fratricidal  struggle  be- 
tween two  such  Colonies  as  Victoria  and  New  South 
Wales  is  at  least  conceivable ;  yet  the  inhabitants 
of  Melbourne  and  Sydney  would  frequently  have 
been  delighted  in  the  past  to  have  met  "  hand  to 
hand,"  though  in  by  no  means  a  fraternal  fash- 
ion. Popular  feeling  of  that  sort  is  liable  to  com- 
municate itself  to  Governments ;  and  as  the  Gov- 
ernments of  Victoria  and  New  South  Wales  are  far 
more  loosely  connected  than  were  those  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  South  Carolina,  for  instance,  in  1860, 
there  is  no  knowing  to  what  extremes  antagonism 
might  go.  Tariff  wars  are  the  first  step  to  wars 
of  another  sort. 

With  or  without  experience,  however,  the  Colo- 
nists are  unusually  thoughtful  people,  and  it  is 
possible  that  they  will  be  the  first  among  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking communities  to  realize  the  vast  im- 
portance of  doing  to-day  that  which  may  have 
become  impracticable  fifty  years  hence. 

The  mission  of  the  English-speaking  peoples  as 
a  whole,  is  not  merely  to  exist ;  they  have  a  higher 
and  a  nobler  duty  to  perform.  In  the  last  century 
it  fell  to  the  lot  of  some  of  them  to  formulate  and 
to  give  effect  to  a  Declaration  of  Independence.  In 
this  century  they  have  the  opportunity  to  unite,  and 


NOTES.  199 

with  others  to  formulate  and  to  give  effect  to  a 
Declaration  of  Interdependence.  By  taking  ad- 
vantage of  existing  conditions  they  can,  at  one 
stroke,  safeguard  their  own  interests  and  per- 
manently benefit  the  world. 


H&6en&um. 
THE  CZAR'S  PLEA  FOR  PEACE. 


THE  CZAK'S  PLEA  FOE  PEACE. 

This  little  book  was  completed  some  time  before 
the  publication  of  the  call  by  the  Czar  of  Eussia, 
through  Count  Muravieff,  for  an  International 
Conference  to  "  cement  an  agreement  by  a  corporate 
consecration  of  the  principles  of  equity  and  right, 
on  which  rest  the  security  of  States  and  the  welfare 
of  the  peoples." 

All  that  has  been  said  herein  will  therefore  be 
read  in  the  additional  light  of  that  remarkable 
communication,  which  appeared  in  the  Eussian 
Official  Messenger  of  August  27th,  1898.  The  com- 
munication has  been  translated  as  follows : 

"  The  maintenance  of  general  peace  and  the  pos- 
sible reduction  of  the  excessive  armaments  which 
weigh  upon  all  nations,  present  themselves  to  the 
whole  world  as  an  ideal  toward  which,  in  existing 
conditions,  the  endeavours  of  all  Governments 
should  be  directed.  The  humanitarian  and  mag- 
nanimous ideas  of  his  Majesty,  the  Emperor,  my 
august  master,  have  been  won  over  to  the  view  that 
this  lofty  aim  is  in  conformity  with  the  most 
essential  interests  and  legitimate  objects  of  all  the 


204  WORLD  POLITICS. 

powers ;  and  the  imperial  Government  thinks  the 
present  moment  would  be  very  favourable  to  seeking 
the  means. 

"International  discussion  is  the  most  effectual 
way  of  insuring  benefit  to  all  peoples— by  furthering 
a  really  durable  peace;  above  all,  by  putting  an 
end  to  the  progressive  development  of  the  present 
armaments. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  last  twenty  years  the  long- 
ing for  general  appeasement  has  grown  especially 
pronounced  in  the  consciences  of  civilized  nations ; 
and  the  preservation  of  peace  has  been  put  forward 
as  an  object  of  international  policy.  It  is  in  its 
name  that  great  States  have  concluded  between 
themselves  powerful  alliances. 

"  It  is  the  better  to  guarantee  peace  that  they 
have  developed  in  proportions  hitherto  unprece- 
dented their  military  forces,  and  still  continue  to  in- 
crease them,  without  shrinking  from  any  sacrifice. 

"Nevertheless,  all  these  efforts  have  not  yet  been 
able  to  bring  about  the  beneficent  result  desired — 
pacification. 

"The  financial  charges  following  this  growing 
tendency  strike  at  the  very  root  of  public  prosperity. 
The  intellectual  and  physical  strength  of  the  na- 
tions' labour  and  capital  are  mostly  diverted  from 
their  natural  application,  and  are  unproductively 
consumed.     Hundreds  of  millions  are  devoted  to 


THE  CZARS  PLEA  FOR  PEACE.  205 

acquiring  terrible  engines  of  destruction,  which, 
though  to-daj  regarded  as  the  last  work  of  science, 
are  destined  to-morrow  to  lose  all  their  value  in 
consequence  of  some  fresh  discovery  in  the  same 
field.  National  culture,  economic  progress,  and 
the  production  of  wealth  are  either  paralyzed  or 
checked  in  development.  Moreover,  in  proportion 
as  the  armaments  of  each  power  increase,  they  less 
and  less  fulfil  the  object  the  Governments  have  set 
before  themselves. 

"  The  economic  crisis,  due  in  great  part  to  the 
system  of  armaments  aVoutrance,  and  the  continual 
danger  which  lies  in  this  massing  of  war  material, 
are  transforming  the  armed  peace  of  our  day  into 
a  crushing  burden  which  the  peoples  have  more 
and  more  difficulty  in  bearing. 

"  It  appears  evident  that  if  this  state  of  things 
were  to  be  prolonged,  it  would  inevitably  lead  to 
the  very  cataclysm  it  is  desired  to  avert,  the  horrors 
whereof  make  every  thinking  being  shudder  in 
advance. 

"  To  put  an  end  to  these  incessant  armaments 
and  to  seek  the  means  of  warding  off  the  calamities 
which  are  threatening  the  whole  world — such  is  the 
supreme  duty  to-day  imposed  upon  all  States. 

"Filled  with  this  idea,  his  Majesty  has  been 
pleased  to  command  me  to  propose  to  all  the  Gov- 
ernments whose  representatives  are  accredited  to 


206  WORLD  POLITICS. 

the  imperial  Court,  the  assembling  of  a  Conference 
which  shall  occupy  itself  with  this  grave  problem. 
"  This  Conference  will  be,  by  the  help  of  God,  a 
happy  presage  for  the  century  which  is  about  to 
open.  It  would  converge  into  one  powerful  focus 
the  efforts  of  all  States  sincerely  seeking  to  make 
the  great  conception  of  universal  peace  triumph 
over  the  elements  of  trouble  and  discord,  and  it 
would,  at  the  same  time,  cement  their  agreement 
by  a  corporate  consecration  of  the  principles  of 
equity  and  right  whereon  rest  the  security  of  States 
and  the  welfare  of  peoples." 


14  DAY  USE  __ 

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